When Worlds Collide
by Waltzing Muse
Summary: For Evelyne, building a life out of the broken one she left behind was not easy. Her ugly past still caught up with her and almost got her killed. Left little options, she returned to the only family that had ever mattered. Mending broken relationships is hard enough, add in an uptight Autobot SIC, secret organizations and Decepticons and you have mission impossible. (Prowl/OC)
1. Prologue

Disclaimer:

Rights to Transformers belong to Hashbro and Micheal Bay. Evelyne is mine to keep.

A Quick Note:

Dear Readers,

Thanks for giving my story a shot. It has been awhile since I have written anything but this story had been in my mind for almost a year just begging to be written. With the support of my wonderful friends, I finally have the courage to pick up the pen once more (or in this case, boot up my laptop).

This story will be based mostly from the Micheal Bay films roughly a few years after Revenge of the Fallen. For now, I don't believe the story will lead to the third film. It will also be based a lot from the G1 universe cause I love a lot of the characters from that series.

Last thing of course is that this story is a Prowl/OC fic but it will be a slow-build cause I really believe that relationships, especially romantic ones need time to develop especially when you have a character as emotionally constipated as Prowl and Evelyne has her own issues to work out first as well. But sparks are sure to develop and I hope to do the characters justice.

So without further delay. Please enjoy!

* * *

 **Prologue:**

Evelyne stared up at the darkness blankly, wondering if she had passed out. Oddly enough, she couldn't really remember if she had or not. There was a gap in her memory that she could not recall. However, for some twisted reason, the period before and after that blank remained with her with stunning clarity. That and the pain radiating through her body were amongst the first things which screamed for her attention.

 _"_ _You have some damn nerve coming back here like this!"_

She shut her eyes trying to get the voices in her head to stop. She wanted to cover her ears in an attempt to block out the noises but her left arm protested too much to let her do so. It was probably broken. That would make sense.

 _"_ _You fucking traitor!"_

She probably deserved that accusation though the words had not stunned any less.

 _"_ _You think you can just leave us just like that?!"_

She laughed…or tried to before choking in her own blood that was building inside her mouth. The salty metallic taste was familiar and bitter. It was like swallowing pride or choking on her own failure. She hated it.

Yeah, she really had thought she could leave just like that. Or at least run and never come back. And yet, here she was, back to this little quiet neighborhood of her youth. Back to where all her bitter memories had spawned from. It seemed fitting that everything should end here.

Her face felt wet. Was she actually crying?

She opened her eyes meeting the darkness once again. Despite her senses being dulled by pain radiating through her body, she could still smell the wet pavement and hear the light splatter of rain. The cold droplets were uncaring of where it was landing, whether it being the ground, the roofs, the metal railing or her broken body.

So it was raining. She hadn't been crying. She wasn't surprised. A bit disappointed, but not surprised. She could not remember the last time she had cried. Yes, raining made more sense. It always rained excessively around this time of year.

She wouldn't cry. Not for herself. She would not have deserved it.

If she were to die now at this moment she would probably deserve it. Hell, if anything she should have died five years ago. It would seem only right that she should return all those few stolen years that had been almost peaceful compared to the earlier times of her adolescence. Would she have regrets? Yes, but that mattered very little now. After all, death waited for no one.

And death was a huge possibility right now. She was not arrogant to say she was too young to die. Death was non-discriminative of gender, race, social status or age. If she did not pass out and die from the blood lost, she was going to choke in her own vomit and blood. Even if that miraculously did not kill her, hypothermia was going to finish the job. There was no one around to help her and she had lost the ability to call or reach out for help. She was slowly losing sensations to her limbs. At least the pain was starting to fade too.

She was going to die here in this dark alley behind some unknown building. Nobody was going to find her cold dead body until many hours or even days later. The local news may bother to mention her death. A tragic story about a young woman who didn't even make it into her mid-twenties and was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, beaten to death by people suspected to be drunk.

God, how cliché.

On the other hand, investigators may find the connection to her sketchy past if they were smart enough. If they did, the news may reveal a different story. A story of how a young delinquent was involved in one of those many violent gang fights and never came out of it alive. One bad decision too many. At least, that would be the story revealed to the public. People would hear it shaking their head, saying something like _"So young, such a waste. Could have made something of herself"_ and then go on with their daily lives.

It did not matter that she had left that violent past years ago. It did not matter that she had been trying to make a better life for herself. It just did not matter to anyone nor did it matter to her anymore. She had been running and fate had a way of catching up to those who run. She had made mistakes and it was time to pay up.

Karma was such a bitch.

But when it came down to it, everything up to this moment had been of her own doing. It was that one phrase that kept repeating itself almost drowning out all those other vicious remarks attacking her mind. They were the last words whispered in her head before she passed out again from the cold and blood lost.

 _"_ _You got what you deserved."_

* * *

Author's Notes:

Thank you for reading. Please review as it is always great motivation. Constructive reviews are welcome. Flames will be ignored. Till next time!


	2. Chapter 1: Startling News

**Disclaimer:** Transformers rightfully belongs to Hasbro and Michael Bay. Evelyne is mine to keep.

 **Rated T:** For coarse language (English and Cybertonian), mild violence and some sexually suggestive scenes. If I feel the need to increase the rating, I will give plenty of warning.

Dear Readers,

Thank you for joining me again on this journey again. I know the prologue only provided a brief glimpse of what is to come. It is a prologue after all. For those of you who decided to give my story a try, here is the first chapter. I like writing long chapters so be warned.

Oh yes one more thing, Jazz did not die in this story like he did in the movie.

Please enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Startling News**

The two paramedics burst through the automated sliding doors entering the ER with their precious cargo. The tension and urgency that was admitted from the two EMS response individual was palpable to any bystanders. They were instantly received by the medical team. The senior paramedic in charge instantly started stating all the information to the medical staff as he helped them to wheel the patient into a predetermined spot in the ER wing.

"We have a Jane Doe in her early twenties. Found unconscious in a back alley. She has been non-responsive since we found her, multiple injuries including head trauma to the occipital lobe, and has signs of likely fracture to her left humerus and dislocation to the left shoulder. She's suffering from hypothermia and respiratory distress. Her airway is clear but there are signs of internal damage including upper contusions found from the mid to lower chest cavity. High possibility of broken ribs 5th to 7th on the right side."

"Is there anyone who saw what happened to her?" Dr. Gale, one of the main ER doctors, asked as he did a full body assessment. Shining a pen light to the woman's eyes, the pupils reacted to the light shone. That was a good sign.

"No. We responded to a 911 distress call that requested for medical aide. But she was found alone in the alley when we got to her."

"It's possible she made the call herself."

"There is no way to confirm that right now."

"Fair enough. Ok 1... 2…3… lift!" The doctor counted before working together with his medical team to transfer the patient from the stretcher to a hospital bed.

Dr. Gale continued to work in stabilizing the woman, barking out orders while relying on his medical team to follow through.

"Her BP and pulse is dropping, she's going into shock!"

"Give her a dose of adrenaline and get the crash cart ready!" No sooner as Dr. Gale made that order, an ominous hum emitted from the vital monitors as if to confirm his morbid prediction. The sound of a heartbeat flat lining.

"Shit!"

The woman's heart had given up and the medical team were spurred into immediate action in trying the revive it. To the other patients staying in the ER, the sounds admitting behind the closed curtains as they tried to save this newly admitted patient had seemed like pure pandemonium.

"Clear!"

The sound of the defibrillator shocking the woman's heart resounded within the room followed by the continuing sound of a flat lined heartrate as if mocking the medical team.

"Still no pulse" one of the nurses reported, her expression grim.

"Come on, come on…" the doctor muttered urgently, as if the words itself can will the woman to not give up. She was much too young. He didn't want another patient to die on his watch tonight. One was already one too many.

"Bring it up to 250!" He ordered another nurse who was calibrating the defibrillator.

"Clear!" another resounding shock.

The doctor started doing compressions on the woman's chest, counting out loud. He could feel sweat start to trickle down the back of his neck and under his scrubs from the exertion he was exhibiting into the task.

The medical staff held their breaths before letting a sound of relief as a weak but steady heartbeat restarted again from the monitor.

Dr. Gale sent a brief prayer of thanks for being able to save this young woman. Whoever she may be, he hoped that she would be able to take hold of this second chance she had been given.

"Good job team." He said looking at his staff. "Let's get her prepped for surgery."

* * *

"Yes I know, I am sorry that I'm late for dinner." Dr. Gale paused as he listened to his wife on the other end of the line. "I just have a few things to finish up before I leave."

He paused again before a small smile lifted his lips. "I will be in time to tuck our son to bed for sure. We still haven't finished Curious George from last night."

The small smile grew before it turned to a quiet chuckle filled with fondness. "I know, I love you too. I will see you soon." He hung up before he started to write the rest of his report.

"Dr. Gale?"

The doctor looked up to see one nurses standing before him, she looked just as tired as him with her brown ponytail in a bit of a mess, but her green eyes remained alert and focused.

"Yes Lisa?" he asked, worried that one of his other patients was experiencing other complications again.

"I found this in the belongings from our Jane Doe. I was going to put her stuff in storage for safekeeping when I found these in the inside pockets of her coat," the nurse explained, holding up in one hand, a sad looking bundle of wet bloody clothes that Dr. Gale guessed would likely be thrown out if ever returned to its owner. The clothes were held in a clear plastic bag along with a pair black and white running shoes and what looked to be a small brown leather backpack. With her hand, the nurse handed him two small pieces of item.

Dr. Gale took the two items from her curiously and noted that one of them was actually an identification card.

He looked back at the nurse in surprise and found her smiling at him, taking away some of the fatigue that was on her face. "I think we can stop calling her Jane Doe now," she said before turning away to continue with her work, trusting the doctor to make use of what she had discovered.

"Yes, of course," the doctor mumbled even though the nurse was gone and he was left alone with his paperwork again. He looked down at the two items in his hand. Other than the ID, the other piece was actually a photo. An old one at that. He found himself drawn to the old photograph first. Despite the wear of it, the folds and creases on the paper indicated that its owner had often taken it out to look at it.

He studied the young girl in the photo and found himself having difficulty reconciling her to the woman whom he and his medical team had brought back from the brink of death.

There were similarities if he looked closely. However, distracted as he had been when he was busy trying to save her life, he remembered some features that tied his patient to the girl in the photo. The dark brown almost black hair, the pale skin were instantly noted. The shy smile was unfamiliar but he was struck by her eyes. Amber-coloured, large and expressive. Understandably, it had been something he hadn't noticed at the time at first when he had been checking her pupils.

The man in the picture with the young girl was young and seemed full of life. With his dark hair and laughing green eyes, he was considered handsome. Holding the girl in an affectionate hug, his smile was something the doctor recognized. It was the same smile he wore whenever he spent time with his son. He knew without a doubt the man was this girl's father. _His patient's_ father. Meaning he was most likely looking at one of his patient's next of kin.

He looked at the name on the ID card next. It was a driver's license, but an expired one. Like most photos in ID, the photo was a horrible one though it was definitely one taken of his patient. The woman's expression was solemn, a far cry from the young girl in the old photograph. Reading the name in the photo, Dr. Gale was finally able to put name to his patient.

Evelyne Lennox.

* * *

"Come on! Move it move it!" Major William Lennox barked out to the soldiers. "Carter, you are lagging! Pick it up!"

"Yes Sir!" the soldier in question picked up his pace to join with the rest of his teammates. In the blazing sun, out in the training ground of the NEST secret base, Will had been spending the last three hours training the fresh face soldiers. From dragging them up and out of their beds at 5 in the morning, to running drills, hopping obstacle courses and now jogging around the track course, he had been relentless in their training and only allowing brief breaks in between.

While technically being a high-ranked Major of the classified task force, training new recruits wasn't really in the job description. Will still made it a personal mission to take time out of his busy schedule to do so from time to time. His comrade-in-arms and best friend, Sergeant Robert Epps was usually the one in charge of training. Instead, today Epps was standing by his side as an observer, arms crossed in front of his wide chest and a smirk on his dark face, faintly amused at the sight of the tiring recruits.

Other soldiers of NEST that had been passing by had also smirked knowingly before going on with their assigned tasks. While they may bear some sympathy to the new recruits in their rigorous training, they had all been through the similar challenges and training when they joined this organization and it had been life-saving for them.

Before even placing foot on the secret base, all soldiers who joined the NEST for the first time, had at least a background of army basic training and had served in the force one way or another. Whether having a background in the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps or the Navy, it was through careful selection, variable tests and _many_ confidentiality agreements, that a chosen few with a specialized set of skills were given the opportunity to join this exclusive unit.

Needless to say, there were always a few _'newbies'_ in the group that were a bit too cocksure of themselves and had been completely caught unprepared of what they exactly had signed up for. A trait that Lennox and Epps were quick to stamped out of them the first week out.

Whether you were a seasoned soldier or a newly recruited rookie, everyone started out the same in NEST and that was rigorous and hard-ass physical and mental training. Everyone in their team worked, ate, slept and fought together for there was no room for heroism in when they went out to fight each time. An over-confident individual that worked out-of-line could get either themselves or their team or even both killed. Because when it came down to it, the allies in whom they worked with were very different but incredible beings while their enemies were ruthless and powerful.

Their allies, the Autobots and their enemies, Decepticons.

"I know this is part of the training, but even watching them go through this each time is enough to make me feel sore," Epps commented lightly as he eyed his friend, who stood there watching the recruits trained with a critical eye.

Will resisted the urge to roll his eye at his friend's comment. Epps could be just as strict and tough if not more, when it came to his training exercises with new soldiers. Both personally understood what can be at stake when facing battle with enemies who could easily kill you by vaporizing you to dusts or just literally stepping on you.

"You are enjoying it."

"Every damn minute."

Chuckling, Will blew on the whistle in his hand, signalling the trainees to finally stop their running. The soldiers came to stand before them in a two straight single file, stance rigid in attention. All twenty of them had sweat rolling down their forehead and staining their standard grey shirts, but their expressions remained neutral.

Will walked before them, his hands clasped behind his back as he took a moment to look at each soldier in the face. He knew that as their commanding officer, their lives may very well rest on his hands. It was a heavy burden. "You have just finished your first week of physical and mental training. You were all selected from the best to join NEST to fight alongside the Autobots against the Decepticons. While you are all skilled in particular areas, all your skills mean nothing if you don't work as a team."

His speech was met with silence as each soldier listened intently. "We are not here to be heroes. We are not here to give credits on your already accomplished success. We are here to prepare you for what you will face out there when you fight. For the next couple of weeks you will be starting to work more closely with the Autobots here at base. Like each of you, each of our Autobot allies are different in their style of fighting and expertise. You will learn to work and fight together with them. How well you learn can very much effect whether you survive the real thing when it comes."

Will had not really initially intended to give such a grim speech to their new recruits, but the memory of soldiers, both human and Autobots, whom had died fighting in the past remained fresh in his mind. He suspected the memory would continue to remain when he became old and grey. He would embrace these memories though because it was what motivated him to a better leader and a better person.

A steadily growing roar of an engine stole their attention and Will turned to see a familiar black GMC Topkick pick-up truck coming towards them at an alarming speed. However, rather than tensing to jump out way from the speeding truck like Will had noticed a lot of the new recruits were doing, both Epps and him remained calm and stood their ground.

Just when the monstrous truck was only a few feet away from them, the black truck made a sharp turn and exploded into an impressive display of shifting metal, gears and hydraulics. When it was done, in its place stood Ironhide, one of their long-time allies, friends and to Will and his family, their guardian.

The black-coloured Autobot stood tall and intimidating. Standing a little over 25 feet, his friend easily dwarfed everyone and even some buildings nearby. His bright blue optics shone with intelligence and scrutiny as he eyed the new recruits before landing on Will and Epps. "Greetings Major Lennox, Sergeant Epps," Ironhide's voice was gravelly with a hint of amusement. Judging by his tone, Will knew very well that his friend had purposely made that showy transformation to intimidate their new recruits.

"Hey Ironhide," Will greeted back. Turning to the other soldiers he bit back a grin. "Men, I trust that you all know Ironhide." It was a rhetorical question really. From Epp's report which his friend had given to him quite enthusiastically, Ironhide had been the one to give the recruits their orientation to the Autobots on their first day. While the task had usually fallen upon Optimus Prime, Jazz or even Ratchet to be the first Autobot introduced to the new soldiers on base. By fate or design, all three of the Autobots had been preoccupied with other things and the task fell to Ironhide to give the introduction. And by introduction, he had meant a quick and rather devastating display of the weapon specialist's multiple cannons.

While Ironhide had claimed that his cannons' fire power, capable of levelling a 15 square mile radius, had been calibrated to a contained plasma burst. The results were still effective enough that the several marked dummies that had been used as targets became nothing more than scorched black marks and a large crater in the fire range. Judging from the nervous yet awed looks the soldiers were giving his guardian, they remembered the weapon specialist _very_ well.

 _'_ _At least it hadn't been Wheeljack that did the introduction'_ Will had thought secretly at the time when Epps had finished recounting the tale. The Autobot version of a mad scientist with his equally dangerous experiments (often to his own being than not) would have discouraged even the most hardcore soldiers from wanting to remain in NEST.

 _'_ _Or Prowl…"_ While it would have been only natural for the Second-in-Command to take over the task when Optimus, himself was unable to. The last time Prowl had done the introduction, the law-enforcing Autobot had started giving a lecture in all the rules and regulations of the NEST base before the recruits even have had time to take in the shock of seeing a twenty feet Cybertronian standing before them. The lecture itself took almost half an hour, and while it was given in a courteous manner, it was all done in monotone that only Prowl himself could only seem to achieve. Even Will, whom had been present at the time, had nearly fallen asleep near half of it. Needless to say, Prowl was never asked to give the introduction again and the SIC had not seemed to mind.

 _'_ _Or Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, or Mudflap and Skids, neither set of the terror twins would have been appropriate. Or Red Alert, too paranoid, Or Blurr, no one would have been able to follow what that fast-talking Autobot is saying. Or….'_

Will may have personally respected each and every Autobot in NEST and felt pride in fighting alongside these amazing individuals. It was still easy to see why many of them would not have been the first choice in giving a good first impression.

"Is there a reason you are here, Ironhide?" Will asked turning back to the Autobot in question. He was always happy to see his friend/guardian but it was unusual to see the Autobot at this time of day when he would usually be at the range, doing target practice or as Epps had put it, _'blowing things up into a million pieces'_

It was only logical that NEST had switched to using more 'cost-friendly' targets when it was noted that they never tend to last very long, nor were there ever enough left to salvage when the trigger-happy Autobot was around.

"I am here to remind and escort you and Sergeant Epps to your meeting with Optimus," Ironhide answered, bringing Will out of his musing.

"Is it 9 already?" Will said surprised, he thought he had at least half an hour before his scheduled meeting with the Autobot leader.

Ironhide chuckled and dark amusement gleamed from his optics. "No it is currently 08:17, but something has happened and I think the both of you will want to get there a little earlier to see it."

Will frowned at the weapon specialist's vague answer but knew better than to press for more information. He looked at Epps who returned his questioning look with a shrug. Both of them turned back to the recruits who were still standing in attention waiting for more orders.

"At ease soldiers!" Epps ordered, taking over command easily. "As you have all survived training with Major Lennox today, you are dismissed so go clean yourself up. Report back here to me at 13:00."

"Yes Sir!" And with that all the recruits dispersed leaving the two commanding officers with the Autobot.

With another shift of metal and gears, Ironhide transformed to his alternate truck form and Will and Epps climbed into his cabin and they were off.

* * *

The sound of a loud engine signalled the arrival of the Topkick along with its passengers as it pulled into the main Autobot hanger. However, instead of stopping by the main elevated platforms where the humans would usually stand on to meet the tall standing Autobots at eye-level, Ironhide continued on heading further into the direction leading left where many of the main offices were located.

Will and Epps looked at each other curiously but remained silent trusting the black Autobot to take them where they needed to be. When Ironhide finally came to a halt, he parked himself near a giant door and both men climbed out of his cabin.

Will looked at the giant sized door before him instantly recognizing it as the entrance of one of the main security offices. It was also where Red Alert, the Autobot's head security officer resided in.

"Why are we here, Ironhide? Was there a breach in security that I needed to know about?" Will asked his guardian, puzzled.

"Something like that," the weapon specialist answered with a knowing smirk which only made Will's curiosity deepened. Shrugging, he and Epps made their way following Ironhide through the large doors that slid open automatically once it confirmed the Autobot's identity for clearance.

Like the hanger, the main security office was a large open space that was designed to accommodate both humans and Autobots. Most of the human work stations were located at the higher levels that lined the walls and allowed sufficient space for Autobot and humans to travel freely without obstacles at the lower ground. In the middle of the room situated like a centerpiece of the whole place was the central work station. The grand station was designed to accommodate both Autobot and their human counterparts to work side by side of each other. Featuring technology that was combined with those descended from Cybertronian, the advance defense security can rival those of the Pentagon itself. The multiple screens from the central station were placed strategically so that it could be seen 360 degrees from all around. Some of the screens displayed security footages of numerous area of the NEST base that were monitored 24/7 while others showed complicated computer algorithms and even Cybertronian glyphs.

Despite the large size office, there were not many staffs, Autobots nor human, that worked regularly in security. Red Alert and Chief Security Officer Johnson were very selective in who worked in head security.

As Will walked by the central computers, he noted Red Alert was not there. From the numerous times that Will had frequented the main security headquarters, the paranoid Autobot was always at his work station monitoring the security footages diligently. He did, however, saw Maggie Madsen working at the central computers. The brilliant computer analyst looked up when they walked by but said nothing. She gave a nod of acknowledgment in which Will returned. Then to Will's surprised, Maggie gave him a look of amusement before she turned back to her work. He could see her shoulders shaking from the distance.

That was odd. Just what in the world was going on?

Finally the three visitors arrived to their destination that turned out be Red Alert's personal office. Upon entering, they were met with the sight of Optimus, Prowl, Red Alert and to their surprised, the twins, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker standing in the middle of the room.

It was Optimus who greeted them first. "Good morning Major Lennox, Sergeant Epps, I was not expecting you till later?" There was a slight inquisitive tone in the Prime's voice.

"We are early. Ironhide said there was something for us to see?" Will explained uncertainly.

Optimus threw Ironhide a suspicious look. The weapon specialist managed to look innocent. At least as innocent as any giant being with giant cannons attached to his form could look.

"I see," Optimus answered neutrally.

"What's with all the secr…" Will trailed off when he finally noted what all the commotion was about. All the weird behavior and secrecy up to now suddenly made a whole lot more sense and Will found himself doing a double take.

Despite it being an office, it was a surprisingly bare room with no desk, no computers, no chairs and no filing cabinets. Nothing to indicate that it was an office. It was just _bare_.

It wasn't until Will's gaze slid to the odd hanging lighting fixture by the tall Autobot leader's right shoulder that he realized that it wasn't actually any light at all.

"Holy shit!" Epp expressed eloquently, but basically summing up all the thoughts in Will's head. They both stared up too astonished for words before they both cracked up in laughter. Epp laughed so hard that there were signs of stomach cramps beginning to emerge.

It turned out the "light fixtures" hanging by Optimus' shoulder was actually the back end of a chair. Following the odd sight, the location of the rest of the missing furniture was solved as they found Red Alert's giant desk, chair, and other furniture were all bolted up onto the 40 feet high ceiling. While it seemed disorientating to see the entire office decor hanging upside down from the ceiling. The welded metal used to secure the furniture in place seemed solid and did not seem to be at risk of falling anytime soon.

"You're relocating your office Red?" Will managed casually when he finally calmed down a little from his laughing. His joking comment caused Ironhide and the twins to start laughing as well, and even Optimus himself looked suspiciously like he was trying to hide a few chuckles behind a cough. Only Red Alert and Prowl remained unamused.

"As humorous as this seemed like to you Major Lennox, this is a breach in security. These troublemakers are trying to sabotage me and my very way of existence!" Red Alert stated accusingly pointing a finger to the twins.

The twins were quick to protest. "Oh come on Red, it was only a joke!" Sideswipe defended.

"Aren't you exaggerating a bit, I mean it's not like we don't have better things to do than to focus on ruining _your_ way of existence," remarked Sunstreaker dryly but was whacked in the arm by his silver twin. "Ow! Watch the paint, I just had it polished!"

"We are trying not to make him angry!" Sideswipe hissed though his voice could be heard by all the occupants in the room.

"And he's not angry now?" The yellow twin pointed out.

"Well… more angry!"

"This is retaliation because I caught you two causing mischief in the rec room last month," Red Alert yelled interrupting the argument between the two Autobots.

Unbeknownst to the red and white Autobot, Will and Epps both winced unconsciously at the memory of the stunt the twins pulled in the rec room not too long ago.

"I still can't eat chicken now since that had happened." Epps complained to Will quietly. To the Major's credit, Will was able to hold back the snigger that threatened to emerge at his friend's comment. It had been an unfortunate series of events that the black soldier had been one of the _'casualties'_ from the last prank pulled off by the twins.

Surprisingly, it was Ironhide that had come to the twins' defense. "At least no one was damaged this time Red."

"How could you say that, Ironhide?!"

Will continued to observe as the twins, Red Alert and his guardian continued to argue when he noted the only Autobot whom had remained silent during the entire time since he and others had arrived. Although to Will's knowledge, Prowl had always been a quiet individual and one of the few bots that the Major could never quite figure out. It did not mean that the SIC was suspicious. If anything, the law enforcing Autobot was loyal to a fault and brilliant in strategic planning and a huge asset when planning for battles. Prowl had just seemed very strict.

Even now, the SIC was standing stiffly in attention in what was supposed to be a casual meeting. His expression was neutral giving nothing in what he could be thinking as he observed the arguing Autobots with a critical optic. The doorwings on the black and white Autobot's back was standing at a perfect 60 degrees and seemed to be the only thing moving. Granted both wings had only twitched only a margin of an inch and would have been missed completely had Will not been paying attention.

Prowl had been among the most recent group of Autobots to have arrived to Earth along with Sunstreaker and Hound six months ago.

Hound had taken to the diverse biological atmosphere of Earth like a fish to water. The fact that the friendly green Autobot had originally been some sort of organic specialist had certainly helped and was often away on scouting missions and exploring the caverns and mountainous regions a few several miles away from base.

Sunstreaker was the complete opposite of Hound. The yellow Autobot did not like humans nor anything organic really and even been borderline hostile in the beginning. It was fortunate his easy-going silver twin was able to help the Autobot cope and the yellow Autobot became more tolerable. Although God help whomever messes with the narcissistic Autobot's pristine paint-job.

Prowl was welcomed by the Autobots, many of which had believed that the tactician had died eons ago. Prowl had accepted the welcome graciously and had taken back his role as the Prime's second-in-command that Jazz was only too happy to relinquish. His reaction to the organic life and the humans in general was difficult to evaluate. While Prowl had been courteous to the other human soldiers and respectful to Will, himself. Will suspected that the respect was for his station in rank rather than him as a person. The black and white Autobot was always seen working at his office or by Optimus' side. He was rarely seen interacting socially with others, humans or Autobots. He was just…distant.

"That is enough," ordered Optimus, the calm rumbling of his voice easily settled the arguing Autobots and took Will's attention away from the SIC. "Both Sideswipe and Sunstreaker have already been punished accordingly for their actions for that particular event and understand that the same will happen this time as well, Red Alert."

Red Alert huffed and crossed his arms across his chassis but said nothing more. His blue gaze never left the twins, his expression was stern.

"I trust that Prowl will deliver a suitable punishment for the twins." Optimus' gaze turned to the Autobot in question.

Hearing his Prime's orders, Prowl broke from his statue-like stance. "You two are to return Red Alert's office to precisely the way it was. After that, one month of your time will be spent in the brig."

"A whole month?!" the twins echoed in horror.

"But the punishment for what happened in the rec room was only two weeks!" Sunstreaker pointed out.

"We will be bored to death!" Sideswipe added.

Prowl's optics narrowed, though his facial plates remained neutral. "According to protocol, two weeks was sufficient time served for the previous incident."

"They had a _protocol_ to cover for what happened last month?" Epps muttered disbelievingly though Will didn't comment. He suspected his friend's question to be rhetorical.

"Not only did both of you not modify your behavior accordingly, you entered a high security office without proper authorization and vandalized the area. The punishment was adjusted to suit the crime."

Both Sideswipe and Sunstreaker turned to look at Optimus pleadingly hoping for some leniency but was disappointed when the Autobot leader chuckled softly. "A fair punishment." Optimus agreed, "I suggest the both you get started in fixing the office now."

The twins both sagged in defeat but nodded grudgingly, accepting their fate.

With the matter settled, Optimus addressed his human friends again. "How was training with the soldiers today, Major Lennox?"

Will smiled. "I think they are all still adjusting but I can see their potentials. I had already informed them that as of tomorrow, they will be spending more of their training in coordinating with other Autobots."

"I am pleased hear that. I will assign the Autobots accordingly to fit with your soldiers' training schedule. Prowl here can also assist to fine tune your training methods." Optimus replied.

Will turned to look at Prowl uncertainly. It was not that he doubted the Autobot's ability to help with training. If fact, the Autobot's logical mind would be of great help in planning tactical strategies that could very well save lives. However, it was not like the Autobot Commander volunteered for the task himself and Will would hate for the busy Autobot to feel obligated to help.

"I appreciate the offer, Optimus." Will replied slowly before addressing the SIC himself. "That is if you are not already too busy."

In response, Prowl's returned his gaze, and blinked his optics once. His head tilt slightly as if what Will had said confused him. "Do you doubt my ability to assist you in training the new soldiers, Major?"

"What? Of course not!" Will spluttered. "I just know that you already have a lot of responsibilities, I don't want you to feel like you are obligated to help."

The Autobot's doorwings seemed to stiffen. "My logical processor was designed to handle multiple functions and tasks at any given time. Adding one more task will not diminish my efficiency. How I feel about the task is not relevant."

"Prowl, I believe Major Lennox was only trying to be considerate of your well-being. It was not to question your ability." Optimus admonished. To his credit, the SIC looked slightly chastised.

"Apologies, Major. Your consideration is noted but unnecessary."

"It's uh… okay Prowl. No harm done." Will said, rubbing the back of his neck. "As long as you are alright with it."

"Of course."

There was a brief silence after that.

"Awkward…" Epps muttered and Will glared at his friend only for his eyes to widen in surprised. "Are you taking pictures of the room?"

Sometime during his exchange with Prowl, his friend had taken out his cellphone and started taking photos of the modified décor of the office. Epps grinned as he took another photo. The automatic click sound the phone made after each picture taken seemed to punctuate the absurdity of the scene.

"Figured we will need some photographic evidence when I write my report," was the Sergeant's explanation.

Will rolled his eyes in response. Epps knew very well that for matters like these, Prowl would usually be the one to take care of the reports.

"You two really went all out this time." Epps commented appreciatively to the twins like he was admiring a work of art. "You even have the datapad and energon cube placed on the table. What did you guys use to keep those things from falling off?"

"Superglue," Sideswipe answered with a proud smirk.

" _Industrial_ strength superglue," Sunstreaker added.

Epps chuckled at that. "Nice!" Another picture taken.

Red Alert frowned. "Sergeant, I would appreciate if you would desist in encouraging these two."

Whatever Epps was going to say in response was put on hold when a sound of a phone ringing interrupted him. A sound that was not emitted from his own phone.

Will froze when he recognized the ring tone from his own. The sound of it filled him with dread. The phone was only ever used by his wife, Sarah to reach him. Cell phones like his was only given to a selected few in NEST including Epps and the phones were modified by the Autobots, themselves so that they were untraceable by enemies, and has reception so strong and widespread that his family would be able to reach him anywhere in the world without interference.

Due to his busy and sporadic schedule, Will usually would have a designated time to spend talking with his wife and his young three-year old daughter, Annabelle. Any other time when Sarah called him or vice versa, was for emergencies only.

This was an emergency.

"I'm sorry, I have to take this," Will apologized and immediately took his phone out of his pocket, pressing the green icon on its screen to answer.

"Sarah?! What's wrong? Are you ok? Is Annabelle alright?" his voice was tensed. Out of the corner of his eye, he noted the other Autobots and Epps were looking at him with varying levels of concern. His guardian, Ironhide looked especially worried as he also understood that Sarah would not call him out of the blue for nothing.

"Will? I'm alright and Annabelle is fine." The familiar voice of his wife answered and Will let out a breath of relief.

"Are you sure you and Annabelle are alright?" he asked again.

"Of course Will, don't worry about that." Sarah reassured him patiently.

"Then why did you call me? Did something happened?" Will asked. The relief that he had been feeling drained away when his wife didn't answered immediately. "Sarah?"

"I don't know how to tell you this so I'm just going to say it." Sarah hesitated. "Maybe you should sit down first."

Will looked doubtfully at the furniture hanging from the ceiling.

"Umm… I don't think I can do that. You know when you say things like that it will only make me worry more." Will tried to joke lamely.

"I got a call from the hospital just now. Will… they were calling about Evelyne."

Will felt like his world just tilted on an axle. "Evelyne?" he echoed weakly.

"She was found and taken to the hospital last night."

"What do you mean ' _found'_? Is she…" Will couldn't find it in himself to say the words.

"No! No! She's alive! She's in surgery right now." Sarah clarified. "They didn't give me a lot of information. But Will…" she paused. "It sounded like she was in really bad shape."

"Bad? How bad?! What do you mean surgery?! Just what happened to her?!" Will pressed, he was trying his hardest to stay calm.

"They don't know what happened to her. They just found her and doing the best that they can to treat her."

Will had heard enough and made a quick decision. "I am going to see her. Which hospital is it?"

Sarah gave him the name of the hospital and Will was shocked to recognize the name of it. It was one of the main hospitals located by his home. It was the same hospital Annabelle was born in. Did that mean Evelyne was back after being missing for so long? He wasn't sure what to make of it. So many unanswered questions.

"Do you want me to go there first?" Sarah asked, bringing Will out his troubled thoughts.

"What? No Sarah, you stay home with Annabelle. I will take the first available flight over and go directly to the hospital."

"But that's almost an 8 hour flight! It makes more sense for me to go there first," his wife protested.

"I know," Will admitted grimly. "But all this sounds too suspicious and until I find out more of what happened, I want you and Annabelle safe at home. Please Sarah, do this for me and I promised I will call you once I find out what happened."

Sarah was silent and Will could tell that his strong-willed wife had wanted to argue.

"Alright," Sarah finally relented with a sigh. "Just remember to call me when you arrived."

"I will," he promised. "I love you."

"Of course you do, and I love you too," Sarah answered and Will smiled slightly at her familiar response before they both hung up.

There was a moment of silence in which Will had almost forgotten that he was still in a large office with six Autobots and his one human best friend. The silence was soon broken as multiple voices erupted all at once.

"Is everything alright Major Lennox?"

"Sarah and Annabelle are fine right?"

"Who in the pit is Evelyne?!"

That last question was from Ironhide. Will could tell that his guardian was disturbed that he didn't know about this mysterious person that was apparently an important part of his life and Will couldn't blame Ironhide for being upset. He had never really told anyone about Evelyne. Only Sarah knew and even she didn't know all the details.

Will had never meant to keep it as a secret. It was just the subject never came up especially when she lost contact with him for so many years. He looked at Ironhide then to the other individuals in the room. It was like everyone was expecting him to reveal some huge secret. But the truth was like tearing off the scab of an old wound.

"Evelyne Lennox is my niece," he explained grimly.

 _~to be continued...~_

* * *

Author's Notes:

I want to give a special thanks to Swanna who had been helping me edit my story and giving me wonderful ideas. Despite my best efforts, grammar is still my worst enemy.

To my reviewers:

Dear Guest: Thank you for being my first reviewer! Despite the use coarse language in the prologue, it is only to fit the character and scene happening at the time. It was not meant to offend. Although to be fair, I should have posted a fair warning in the beginning which I will be doing from now on. There won't be too many uses of harsh languages though as I am usually someone who rarely swears in life. I will try not to make the story plot too slow but like I said, Prowl is a pretty complex character, it may take a while for him to develop romantic feelings for anybody much less, for a human woman. Please stay tune!

Dear Jessenia22: I see that you are as much of an avid reader as myself. Thank you for supporting a Prowl/OC fic. I hope I will not disappoint. I will try to update regularly but life can be pretty busy. At least I can promise to write long chapters so hopefully the wait will be worth it at least.


	3. Chapter 2: Broken Ties

**Disclaimer:** Transformers rightfully belongs to Hasbro and Michael Bay. Evelyne is mine to keep.

 **Rated T:** For coarse language (English and Cybertonian), mild violence and some sexually suggestive scenes. If I feel the need to increase the rating, I will give plenty of warning.

Dear Readers,

I am overwhelmed by the positive reviews and support received for my story. It is both exciting and humbling. I am so glad there are many people who are interested in reading a Prowl/OC fic. I apologized for the long wait for chapter 2 but I hope this long chapter made the wait worth it.

Now without further ado.

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Broken Ties**

Will hurried through the hospital doors. He had dropped everything and had made his way here the moment he had heard the news. He scanned the crowd of people and stopped when he recognized the familiar face that was there to meet him. A big grin fell on his lips.

Will walked over and embraced his older brother. "I heard the great news! Congrats man!"

Michael Lennox laughed, his green eyes were bright and excited. Then he grabbed Will by the shoulders and rubbed his head in a noogie. "Aren't you still supposed to be in school?" he chastened semi-harshly.

Will groaned and fought to get out of his brother's strong hold. "Come on Mike! There're people around!"

"All the more reason to do it."

After a few failed attempts, the younger brother managed to break free and glared half-heartedly at his laughing sibling. "It was final period and it's almost the holidays, they're not going care or miss me. Besides, meeting my niece is more important."

Michael shook his head but the grin remained on his face. "Usually I will disagree with you but I will have to make an exception this time since you talking about my perfect daughter."

Will rarely remembered a time when his brother was not smiling. Hell, even when Mike was exacting sweet revenge on a prank war, he did it with a smile on his face. Now that Will thought about it carefully, it was actually pretty scary.

"I still can't believe it though," Will commented as his brother led him to the nursery wing of the hospital. "You! A father! How's Tori doing?" he asked, referring to his sister-in-law.

" _Victoria_ is doing fine. She's exhausted and sleeping right now so we can see her later. You know she hates that name, why do you keep calling her that?" Mike asked curiously.

Will's shoulders shrugged evasively. "She calls me Willie, that's worse. You know how embarrassing that name is?" The truth was he never really liked Victoria all that much.

Michael and William Lennox had grown up in a family like many others. The brothers were five years apart and were close as any siblings could be. Their parents were loving people. Their mother, Anna was a baker at a local shop famous for their mouth-watering pies, whereas their father, George was a mechanic with his own auto shop.

Their father had always joked that he and their mother had met when he'd kept visiting their mother's shop daily for pie. He'd gained almost five pounds from eating pie every day before he had summoned the courage to ask their mother out on their first date. She had refused him at first, but he'd been persistent. They had married a year after and then had Michael and not too long after, William. They weren't rich, but they had enough money to keep life comfortable in a farm left by their grandparents.

They were a happy family. It was perfect.

That was until the night when everything had changed and brothers' lives had been turned upside down forever. Will had only been twelve at the time, while Mike had just turned eighteen. A policeman had come to their doorsteps to tell them that their parents had been involved in a terrible car accident. Their father had left home to pick up their mother from the shop, seeing as how terrible that night's storm had been and had not wanted her to drive home by herself. It had been a horrible storm, the visual had been non-existent. George Lennox had died upon impact. Mary had only made it as far as the steps of the hospital before her heart had failed.

Will didn't remember too much of that terrible night. Just a lot of screaming and crying before the sensation of his big brother's arms embraced him tightly. It had seemed like it had been the only thing that kept the brothers from falling apart completely at the time.

Given he'd been legally an adult at eighteen, Michael Lennox had immediately assumed the role as Will's guardian, determined not to have his young brother sent to a foster home. It had been difficult especially the first two years. Michael had given up going to college, he had gone to work at their father's auto shop to earn money to support Will and himself. Will had been a rather bitter and angry pre-adolescent but had luckily straightened afterwards for the sake of his brother. God only knew what would have happened to him if Michael had not made the sacrifices he did in trying to take of care of Will.

At the time, Michael had also been dating a girl he'd known since high school. A girl named Victoria whom Will had never really gotten along with. Call him a bratty younger brother who did not want to share his brother's attention, but Victoria had seemed so high-maintenance. She'd been the head cheerleader and Michael had been pretty smart and popular in high school. They had dated on and off before it'd become steadier after they had graduated. Will hadn't understood how a seemingly stuck-up girl like Victoria had gotten along with his easy-going brother. Nevertheless, they had stuck together and were in love. They were married young at only twenty, but Michael had always wanted to have a bigger family. Perhaps it was to cover the hole that was made when their parents had passed away. Will had never questioned his brother why.

After two years of being married, they were now here in the hospital to welcome a new addition to their family. As Will studied the happiness radiating off of his brother, he had to admit that fatherhood seemed to suit him very well.

"Did you guys finally decided on a name for her?" Will asked. Michael and Victoria had been arguing endlessly on possible baby names for months after ultrasound had revealed that they were going to have a baby girl. Will knew better than to get in between _that_ particular battle. In his personal opinion, any name that wasn't named after a food like Candy, Apple or Tootsie was alright with him (no offense to those people who were).

"It's Evelyne" Michael announced proudly.

Will looked back at him in surprise. "You chose grandma's name."

"It just seemed to fit."

"You know I will have to give her a nickname cause Evelyne will be too old-fashioned for such a little squirt." Will remarked, his face was serious.

"Are you calling me old-fashioned then?"

"You know you are, old man."

"I will show you old!" Michael attempted to grab him again for another noogie but Will had been expecting it and deftly avoided his brother's reach this time around. Seeing as he wasn't going to get his brother this time, Michael rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

"But seriously, I didn't think you remember grandma," Will remarked thoughtfully, he could barely remember her. Just little bits of memories of baked cookies and mischievous brown eyes.

"You were young and probably didn't remember her very well. But I did." His brother responded, his green eyes were distant temporarily lost in memory. "You are actually a lot like her."

"Really?"

"Yeah, stubborn and bossy like hell."

Will scowled, as his brother laughed before a sneaky smile emerged. "You know you are inadvertently describing your own daughter too then," he pointed out.

His brother stopped laughing afterwards. "That's different. My daughter is an angel."

"You met her for less than a day!"

"5 hours to be exact."

"You are hopeless," Will decided, shaking his head.

His brother gave him with a knowing look. "You will know how I feel someday when it's your turn to have a kid. It's life-changing."

Will wasn't too sure about that. He was only seventeen after all, too early to think of such things. He can't imagine himself as being fully responsible for any kid much less his own.

"Here we are!" Michael exclaimed when they finally arrived at the nursery wing.

Behind a glass window of brightly lit room, perfect rows of little beds filled with newborn infants lined before them. "There she is!"

Will looked at the bed near the end of the row pointed out by his brother. Inside the tiny crib was a baby wrapped in a pink blanket, sleeping peacefully. There was a name tag on the bed labelled 'Evelyne Lennox'.

As if sensing her father nearby, the baby started crying as if to call for his attention. Will winced at the sound. "She sure is… loud," he said uncertainly.

"Yes, babies tend to cry a lot." Michael laughed at Will's expression. He signalled over one of the nurses working at the ward.

"Back already Mr. Lennox?" a nurse named Laura came up to them, a smile on her face as she recognized his brother.

Michael grinned sheepishly. "I'm just introducing my brother to his niece."

"Of course you are," Laura answered good-naturedly. She looked over at the crying baby. "Do you want to hold her again?"

The older sibling nodded. Laura went over and lifted the crying baby expertly from her crib, making cooing sounds and gently bouncing her as she made her way over to the two brothers.

Unexpectedly, Will felt himself growing more nervous as little Evelyne came closer. How could such a tiny being cry so loud? What if he made a lousy uncle? He didn't know the first thing about babies. Michael was the caregiver, the rock, the one that people relied on. Not him! He was just a kid!

"Here you go," Laura said and she gently transferred the baby girl into his brother's waiting arms. Michael rocked little Evelyne in his arms and made little funny noises that Will had never heard his brother made before. Slowly, the baby started to calm and began to make little gurgling noises, one of her little fists broke free from under the pink blanket and began to wave around as if searching for something.

Intrigued, Will used a finger and slightly touched the tiny fist, aware that his brother was watching him closely. Instinctively, the baby's hand grabbed hold of his finger tightly. "Whoa, strong grip," Will exclaimed surprised.

"Do you want to try to hold her?"

Will paled at his brother's question. "Me?" he squeaked. "I don't know how? What if I drop her?!" He was horrified at the mental image.

To his dismay, Michael laughed again. "You won't. It's not that hard, just remember to support her body and be careful with her head."

Before Will could protest anymore, his brother started to slowly transfer his precious cargo into Will's arms. Will had little choice but to stand there stiffly with the baby in his arms and followed his brother's advice to be careful with her head.

The baby squirmed a bit but to his relief, she did not cry. In fact, she opened her eyes and seemed to look at Will curiously. Will couldn't look away. "She has blue eyes!" Will noted with awe.

"Actually we're not sure yet. All newborns have blue or grey eyes, their natural eye colour don't show till later."

"Oh," Will whispered softly, he didn't know about that little fact. There was a lot that he didn't know. The baby looked at him a little bit longer before yawning and to his surprise, she fell asleep in his arms. Will was speechless and looked up his brother, only to find Michael looking back at him with a proud expression.

Will looked back down at the tiny being whom had trustingly fell asleep in his arms. He felt oddly humbled. "So you are what all the fuss is about?" Will whispered as he gently rocked the little baby in his arm.

"It's nice to meet you Evie."

* * *

Will was jolted back to the present when the truck hit a pothole. He paid no notice when Ironhide grumbled about ruined suspensions. He hadn't realized that he had fallen into a state of half-sleep and half-awareness. He rubbed his face in a fit of exhaustion but refused to let himself doze off again. He looked at the familiar open country road passing by his window. With the windows rolled down he could smell the clean air that often followed after a rain storm. Looking at the familiar landmarks, he knew that he had about an hour left before he would arrive to the hospital that his niece was being treated in.

The minute that he had decided to leave the NEST secret base in Diego Garcia, Will had packed quickly and had been ready to leave within an hour. He had been damn lucky that after pulling a few strings, combined with the Autobot's help, he was able to make the flight trip in just less than six hours instead of the usual eight.

He had called Sarah the minute he had arrived to the local military air base on US soil and received an update that Evelyne had gotten out of surgery in stable condition and was now in the recovery ward. It had settled his frantic heart to hear the good news if only marginally. He had then quickly gotten into Ironhide's truck form to make the two hour car ride to their final destination. It was a combination of Ironhide's strict orders, exhaustion and worry during the six hours flight that had eventually gotten the better of him and Will had succumbed to a brief light nap before waking less than an hour later.

Looking out of Ironhide's side mirror, Will could see a familiar black and white police car tailing them. At the time, Will had been too much in a hurry to care that Prowl had been ordered by Optimus to come along as backup. The SIC had obeyed the Prime's order without much protest which surprised Will now that he was in the mind to think about it. Prowl often preferred to stay in NEST base due to the mountain of paperwork involved in running a secret organization. The tactician often would participate in field work as well but that was not the case now. As important as this matter was to Will, it was still considered a personal matter. It made sense for Ironhide to accompany him seeing as he is the family guardian. But Prowl? Why did Optimus see the need to request the tactician to come along? Was it really as simple as providing backup?

"You should continue to recharge, I can inform you when we arrive," the deep rumbling of his guardian's voice sounded beside him. Will turned from the passenger seat to face Ironhide's holoform on the driver's seat 'driving'. It had been Ironhide's idea to use his holoform to act as driver rather than let Will do so like he had done in the past in order to give the Major an opportunity to rest. It would have been suspicious if a driver happened to drive by to see Will asleep at the wheel.

It was strange seeing his guardian in his holoform, a form in what the Autobots had explained in the past, to be a human representation of their real selves. Strange, but not unfamiliar. The form was that of a muscular Caucasian man close to Will's age at forty and dressed in military pants, a black T-shirt and combat boots. When standing, he would stand at over six feet tall with dark brown hair in a military cut, his expression was stern with vibrant blue eyes and a scar that ran through the right one.

Will sighed and turned away "It's fine, Ironhide. I don't think I can sleep again anyway."

Ironhide didn't answer and Will was grateful for the silence. However, he could tell that the black Autobot was bothered and had wanted to ask him the question that had been plaguing his processor. While answering the question would bring up some rather painful memories, Will knew that his guardian deserved to know at least part of the story.

"Go ahead Ironhide, I know you wanted to ask me." Will sighed.

Ironhide didn't respond right away as if trying to assess if the Major was sincere in his permission or not. Finally, impatience won over his reluctance. "Why was there never any mention of this… niece of yours?"

Will sighed, his hand rubbed the back of his neck. "I had never meant to keep Evelyne a secret from you, Ironhide. I just never mentioned her because I've lost contact with her almost five years ago and it was before you and the other Autobots even arrived to Earth."

"Five years is a long time for humans to lose contact with someone especially when it's family." Ironhide pointed out, although his rough tone was not accusing, it was rather inquisitive.

"It's… complicated," Will paused, as if struggling to find the right words to explain. "Evelyne was a good kid. My brother, Mike… her father adored her to pieces and she was daddy's little girl. I was her Uncle Will, the one who loved to spoil her as any good uncle ought to do."

The expression on Ironhide's human face frowned as he listened to Will's story. There was something else. "You only mentioned her father. What about her mother? Didn't she love her as well?"

Will's face darkened. "Honestly, I wasn't sure."

"How is that possible? I thought all maternal units instinctively bond with their offspring."

Will sneered. "Mike always said that his wife was still adjusting to having a child as part of their small family. That she was a good wife and mother."

"You believe your brother was lying?"

"I think Mike honestly believed it."

"But you don't agree."

Will didn't answer for a while. "You know how there are people out there that are just not meant to be parents? I believe Victoria is just one of them. My brother had always been the glue that had kept the family together. Victoria loved my brother but I think she hated that he shared his love between her and Evelyne."

"How can a mother be jealous of her own child?" Ironhide's voice was filled with bewilderment.

That was a good question. A question that Will had no answer for. "It's pretty twisted." Will admitted. "But it was something that only I saw at the time. Mike wouldn't believe me whenever I've tried to tell him, he thought that I was just being the paranoid uncle or whatever. Mike was like that, forever the optimist and refused to see the bad in other people. Even when it was happening right under his nose."

Will's voice cracked slightly at the mention of his brother. Something that his guardian did not miss. "Will?" Ironhide asked slowly, "What happened to your brother?"

Will closed his eyes to block out the painful memories. "Mike was always the rock in my life and he took care of all of us. But he died in a car crash. It was a dumb accident. Some stupid drunk driver ran a stop light and rammed right into my brother's car. From what they told me, my brother had died instantly. No pain," he scoffed. "As if _that_ was supposed to make me feel better."

Ironhide turned to him and Will was surprised to see the sad and remorseful expression on the usually grumpy guardian's face. "I am sorry. I know all too well of the pain of losing a brother."

Will nodded solemnly. Of course, Ironhide was millenniums of years old who had fought in a civil war for eons in Cybertron, his home planet. Ironhide would know only too well of the pain of losing comrades, friends and brothers from fighting so long.

"It was a long time ago and I made my peace with it too. But Evelyne was only six at the time when her father suddenly died. After that, her mother didn't want to stay anymore. Said that there were too many memories and took Evelyne with her and moved to New York. At the time, I have tried to keep in contact with them especially for Evelyne's sake but it was difficult as I have already enlisted in the army at the time."

Will paused, trying to think of how to continue without making it sound like an excuse. "I have seen Evelyne from time to time but each time I've seen her, something has changed."

"Changed?" his friend inquired.

"I guess you can say she and I became distant. Like I said, Mike had been the one to tie the family together. He was also what tied her to me. After he died, that bond between her and I have had changed. She's grown up and she just wasn't the little girl I've known anymore."

"There was something else about her you are leaving out." Ironhide persisted.

"Yeah," Will admitted with a grimace. "I wasn't sure when it all started but Evelyne got involved doing some illegal activities."

"What do you mean _'illegal activities'?_ "

"She was only sixteen and she was caught doing street racing of all things." Will said grimly. "I found out because the police called me as her next of kin. God knows where her mother had been at the time." He paused again, his expression was pained. "I was _so_ _angry_ that time. The things that I have said to her…"

Will still recalled that night when he had stormed into the police station and saw her sitting there quietly, her hands were handcuffed together like some common criminal. She had remained silent while the police had reported to him of the news of her misconduct and she'd continued to remain, so when he had bailed her out, he'd just walked out of the station. Her quiet demeanor had only fueled his righteous anger even more and he had demanded to know just what the heck she had been thinking? How could she have gotten mixed into doing something incredibly dangerous as _street racing_ of all things?! Given how her father and grandparents had died, a girl like her would have known better? It wasn't until when Will had furiously told point blank that her father would have been disappointed in her that she had finally reacted.

It had been subtle at first, her hands clenching into fists, body tensing, and a quick intake of breath. They had all been subtle signs that he had missed in his fury. It wasn't until she had stopped following him altogether in the city street that he had stopped as well and finally took the time to _really_ look at her.

Her adolescent body was thin, but there were signs of her developing more womanly curves that she seemed to be trying to hide under the oversized blue hoodie she wore. The tight fitted jeans tucked into some dark boots were worn and shabby. A suspicious dark stain was noted on her right knee. Her knuckles were scrapped and bruised. A dark bruise on her right cheek stood out glaringly obvious against her naturally light complexion. Her dark hair had been cut short and only reached her chin. Overall, she had made a pitiful sight under the artificial street lights and it had tugged at his heart. However, it wasn't until he had met her eyes that he had felt like he had been punched in the gut. Her amber eyes had shone with simmering anger and what had seemed like hurt betrayal. It was like it had been _him_ that had disappointed _her_ instead of the other way around.

"Why did you even come?" her voice was soft but laced with so much raw emotions that Will had barely recognized her tone. "If all you are going to do is judge me for my mistakes then you shouldn't even bother to come."

Will had no answer for that and it seemed like Evelyne wasn't expecting one either because she didn't give him a chance to think of one.

"Just leave. You have done what you came here to do. I won't trouble you anymore." And with that she turned to walk away in the opposite direction. She never looked back.

It was another second before Will gathered his wits to go after her just as she quickly crossed the street. He jumped back just in time to barely dodge an oncoming vehicle. The driver furiously honked his horn and cursed at him as he drove by. Will paid him no mind and looked back at the streets to see where his niece went. But he found the streets empty save for a few strangers out for a late stroll. Evelyne had disappeared from his sight and he had no idea where or even which direction she had gone.

Will felt his heart sank on that terrible night when he realized that because of his careless words, he might have just lost any fragile bond that tied him to the only family he had left in the world.

"I have tried looking for her and went to her home where she lived with her mother. It was only then that I found out even her mother didn't know where she's gone and didn't even seem to care. She was so self-absorbed in her own world that she hasn't even noticed her daughter was missing." Will paused to gain control his emotions again. Thinking about her mother, Tory and the obvious neglect she had given to his niece had always made him burned with fury and wracked with guilt because he had let it happened out of ignorance.

"I've called the police and hired private detectives. There were a few leads but never anything substantial. I went back to New York whenever I was on-leave from the army to search again. But no matter what I did, it's seemed like she's disappeared into thin air."

"You never saw her again after that night?" Ironhide asked, already expecting the Major to give a negative response.

To the Autobot's surprised, Will answered differently. "Actually no. It was another two years before I saw her again." He shook his head with a sarcastic laugh that confused his guardian. "After looking for two damn years with nothing and worrying me to death, she showed up literally on my doorsteps. And the ironic thing was that she came to see me just to say goodbye again."

"Why?" Ironhide frowned.

"Somehow, she found out that I've been looking for her. She came to me to tell me to stop wasting my time and that she was leaving New York."

"Why would she leave New York all of the sudden?"

Will shrugged. "She wouldn't say and she denied that she was in trouble at the time when I've asked her but I could tell that she wanted to run. I tried to stop her and get her to see some sense but she was too stubborn."

"So are you," his guardian pointed out.

Will glared back at him though it was only half-heartedly. "Yeah well it was difficult to get a stubborn girl who has just turned eighteen, to listen to what you say especially when she has the ability to guilt-trip you."

"Guilt-trip?"

"She told me that if I care about what she wanted at all, then I would not stop her and let her live her own life," Will explained. "Which translated to: 'You never cared about me before so you have no right to dictate my life.'"

"That was harsh," Ironhide commented.

The defeated look in Will's expression spoke volumes. "Yes, but no less true. I think that was what made me let her go out on her own in the end. I haven't been there for her when she needed me the most. I've lost that right to protect her as any family should have done. Her dad died too early, her mother let her down and I have been too absorbed with my life in the army to be any type of role model that she needed. It wasn't until I got married to Sarah and we have Annabelle that I finally remembered how fragile and precious family is."

"We all have regrets, Will. I have learned that it is what we choose to do about those regrets is what matters the most. You can either choose to sit back and let regret turn you into rust or you keep going forwards with cannons blazing and learn from your mistakes." Ironhide spoke, determined not to let Will sink into depression and self-pity.

Will chuckled, "That's actually very wise, Ironhide."

Ironhide snorted. "You think it is only Optimus that knows how to give epic speeches?"

"Of course not," Will answered good-naturedly. The brief smile of his dropped again when more troubling thoughts rose within him. "I just wish I knew what has happened to her this time. What if she has actually gotten in more trouble during the five years of being missing and it has led her to where she is now?" He couldn't help the chill that went through him at the terrible thought.

God, Michael must be rolling in his grave right now with how poorly he had looked or not looked after his daughter.

"Is there any reason you could think of that she may have decided to come back after so long."

Will shook his head to Ironhide's question. "Evelyne has always been one to do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. I never even knew what made her decided to just pack everything and leave her life in New York. Now showing up out of nowhere without a warning just doesn't surprise me that much anymore when I think about it."

"Can she even be trusted?"

Surprised, Will looked at his guardian, who returned his stare steadily. "What do you mean? She is my niece."

Ironhide frowned. "A niece whom you have lost contact with for a long time and has suddenly decided to return into your life." He pointed out. "You even admitted that you do not know a lot of things about her nor what happened to her for these past few years. This whole thing seems suspicious."

Will couldn't help but feel indignant of the implications his guardian was hinting at. "What are you worried about, Ironhide? That she is going to hurt me?" he couldn't keep the disbelief out of his tone.

"You have a lot more to lose now than when you did five years ago." Ironhide pointed out. "You, Sarah and Annabelle are my charges and it is my sworn duty to keep the three of you safe from any threat."

"Evelyne is not a threat!" Will argued. His stress was getting the better of him and he had to remind himself mentally that Ironhide was only looking out for him and his family. "Look, I know you mean well, Ironhide, and I know you will give your life to keep me and my family safe. God knows, we are thankful to have you as part of our lives." He said reasonably and he watched the hard expression on Ironhide's holoform face soften slightly at his words. "I may not know all that much about Evelyne nor what has happened to her all these years but I believe deep down, she is still a good person and will never hurt me."

Ironhide studied him for a long time and Will had to squash the ridiculous instinct to remind his guardian to keep his 'eyes' on the road instead. After a moment, Ironhide gave a brief grunt before facing forward again. "Very well," he relented. "But I will not hold back to make her accountable if I sense even a slightest threat coming from her towards you, Sarah or Annabelle."

Will's jaw tensed at the veiled threat but pushed down the urge to argue. After spending many years under Ironhide's guardianship, he knew Ironhide had viewed his little family as part of his own and couldn't fault the tough Autobot for being protective. Even if he had felt it to be a bit extreme sometimes, he understood too well that the bond between an Autobot guardian and their charge was nothing to be taken lightly of. "It won't come to that." Will promised.

Sure, he may have not have been clear as to what had happened to Evelyne all those years of so-called self-exile. Nor was he truly clear of how her life had been as a young teen with the exemption of a few unsavoury facts about her difficult childhood, a negligent mother and street-racing activities that she'd gotten arrested for.

But he wasn't going to give up on her now. Not when he was given a rare second chance to see her again and maybe just maybe, he could make things right with his niece once more. He was going to protect her whether she wanted it or not. He was her uncle and the only family left in her life that mattered, he was not going to disappoint her again. If he showed her that he could be someone who she could count on to be there for her when she needed him, then maybe she would let him back into her life.

Right?

* * *

It had been the scent that first woke her up. That distinctive smell of disinfectant, soiled linens and other things that she did not care to identify. That combined with an incessant beeping sound was enough to drive anyone mad.

She wasn't fully awake, not yet. Her mind was drawing a blank. What happened? Why couldn't she open her eyes? Why wouldn't her body move?

She took stock. She was lying down, but it was not on the lumpy bed of the motel that she had been staying in temporarily. The linens against her skin felt stiff and scratchy and she felt terribly cold, exposed and vulnerable.

Slight fear started to creep into her mind. _'Just where the hell am I?'_

Then she heard voices, mumbling and distant. It felt like she was hearing it through underwater but that didn't make sense. People were around nearby. She wasn't alone as she had previously thought. It put her on the edge even more. She was incapacitated in a strange place with strange people.

Damnit why couldn't she open her eyes?! She needed to see what was happening. To see what was happening to her! Would someone just turn off that stupid beeping?!

"She hasn't woken up yet Dr. Gale," a female voice sounded, it was much closer than the previous ones and she tensed.

"Strange, it's been a few hours after surgery. She should have woken by now. What are her vitals?" responded another voice, male this time.

What were these people talking about? What surgery? Were they talking about her? No why would she need surgery? She was perfectly healthy, just minding her business and getting some food for dinner at a local diner. She had been watching the TV screen listening to local news about some property damage at an old construction site and a witness was being interviewed sprouting nonsense about some giant robots.

She hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings and that had been her first mistake. She was grabbed by a shoulder by a man who leered back at her. It took her a moment before she realized that she recognized him.

" _Hello Blaze."_

Blind panic took over Evelyne as the rest of the night uncoiled before her. Her memories flooded back to her in waves and it caused her breathing to accelerate.

"Her heart rate and BP are elevating."

All the running and the fighting that she had done. The fear that she'd felt when she had been trapped and surrounded. The beating and kicking that she had endured. The pain_ dear god pain had refused to stop! She remembered every broken bone that she had felt. Then they had left her to die. _She_ had been ready to die.

 _You got what you deserved._

Evelyne couldn't take it anymore. She opened her mouth to scream.

* * *

Will practically leapt out of Ironhide's cabin the minute the Autobot made a full stop and parked in the hospital parking lot.

Ironhide in his holoform was following him close behind.

He had been ready to sprint the rest of the way across the large parking lot towards the hospital's main entrance before he was blocked by another man that seemingly came out of nowhere.

The Caucasian man was about his height at just over six feet. He was younger than him at maybe late twenties or early thirty. Annoyed, Will stepped to the side to get around the strange guy but was blocked again. "Look, I'm in a real hurry." Will started.

"Major."

The familiar voice had Will pausing, he took a moment to study the man before his eyes widened in realization. With short-crop black hair, a square clean shaven jaw and eerily familiar bright blue eyes, Will felt foolish for not figuring out who he was sooner. "Prowl?"

The holoform of the black and white Autobot nodded. A serious expression on his human face that accurately reflected the one that the Cybertronian often wore on his real form.

"What the hell Prowl? I need to get going." Will demanded impatiently, he was so close.

"There is a matter of importance that I believe you should be aware of before going to see your niece."

Will frowned at the severe tone in SIC's voice. "What could be so important that you need to tell me now?"

"While we were travelling, I had been monitoring and downloading multiple local police reports, news and multiple streams of calls within the state and was able to narrow down to a few that are related to your niece."

Will was surprised. It hadn't even occur to him that the SIC could do such a thing. "So did you find out what happened?"

"Police reports were vague and incomplete." The scowl on Prowl's face was prominent as if disturbed by the inefficiency of the local authorities. "But all concluded that she has been assaulted brutally and the assailants have yet to be identified. I was able to gather some video footage of that night but that in itself, will only reveal limited information of what has happened."

Will's eyes raised in disbelief. "How is that possible?"

"Given the poor quality of the footages, the angle the street surveillances were placed, the dim lighting and poor maintenance of the cameras; the only thing that I could conclude with 96.1% certainty from it was that she has been running away from some assailants. She's been chased and cornered into an alley behind a furniture store. It was unfortunate that the store's camera was out of working order and did not capture what has happened to your niece. However, it can be concluded that the alleyway was the place where the assault has taken place before emergency services found her."

Will could only stand there numbly as he listened to the report spoken by the SIC in a grim tone that belied some distaste that the Autobot was feeling. It wasn't long before helpless rage took over his being as he found that his worse fear during his whole trip in getting here, was realized. Some people had purposely targeted his niece and had hurt her so badly to a point that she had been sent to the hospital fighting for her life.

"Damn it!" Will swore vehemently, his fists tightened as he felt the urge to hit something. He settled with pacing as he always did when he wanted to release some pent up stress and frustration. His hand raked across his short hair while the other covered his mouth and shaking his head as if in denial. He vaguely heard the truck form of Ironhide revved in frustration at the injustice of it but he paid it no mind at the moment. "Shit!" he swore again louder. He didn't care if he was making a spectacle of himself before the two Autobots or any passerby in the large parking lot.

"Can't you wait until _after_ he sees his niece first before piling all this on him?" Ironhide growled as he glared at the Praxian beside him.

Prowl returned his glare with a cold stare. "It is only fair that the Major learns what he will be facing upon seeing his kin in there. It will only be crueler for him to find out from other sources."

"How is it hearing this from you any better?!" demanded the angry weapon specialist.

Prowl remained adamant before the raging form of his comrade. "I don't get my facts wrong," he stated simply.

"I still don_"

"No, Prowl is right, Ironhide." Will interrupted, he face severe. From long years of experience, he had managed to get his anger under control during their argument and he stood before them sternly. "If I am not going to hear it from Evelyne herself any time soon, I'd rather hear the facts from you guys than someone else who may know nothing or worse yet, try to sugar-coat it for me."

He turned back to the SIC who regarded him with an unreadable expression. "Is there anything else that I need to know other than what you have told me?" he asked.

He watched the tactician hesitated slightly. It had only been a moment of second pause but Will had caught it. "So there _is_ something else? What is it?" he pressed.

"I've found something in the local news that may be related but I've only calculated about a 51.6% possibility of it being so."

"I don't care if there is only 1% possibility. If there is any chance of it relating to who attacked my family, I want to know about it." Will demanded.

The look that Prowl gave him was calculating. Calculating what, Will wasn't sure but he stood his ground. "Approximately 17.5 hours before the distress call was made in reporting your niece's incident, another call came requesting for authorities due to an attack that was happening in an abandoned construction site. One witness who has made the distress call claimed that the destruction was caused by, and I quote, 'a Satan's robot.'"

"Satan's robot?" Will repeated in confusion.

"Decepticons," Ironhide spat the word like a vile taste.

"Wait!" Will was alarmed when he figured what the tactician was implying. "Are you saying that my niece's attack could very well be related to the Decepticons?! She doesn't even know anything about them."

"The fact that the construction site is located only three miles away from the place where your niece was attacked could unlikely be a coincidence. You said so yourself that you have not had contact with your niece for five years, the fact that she may or may not be aware of the existence of Decepticons is still uncertain."

Will stopped cold as he glared at SIC. "I hope for your sake Commander, that you are not implying that Evelyne is actually associated with Decepticons."

Prowl was undeterred by Will's warning. "I am not implying anything Major, as there are insufficient evidences to support either theory that she is or not. However, the fact that she is your niece is already enough reason in itself that Decepticons would want to target her."

Will felt a migraine emerging and he rubbed the bridge of his nose in an attempt to relieve it. "Great," he muttered sarcastically. "First Ironhide and now you are implying that Evelyne could be a threat to me. Either that or you are saying that there is a chance that our enemies are targeting her because of her relation with me and my ties to the Autobots." Then a terrible thought emerged and he paled. "Which also means Sarah and Annabelle can be in danger too."

"It won't come to that." Ironhide swore darkly, "Those Sparkless Pit-Spawns won't get within a mile of Sarah or Annabelle and even if they do, they will have my cannons to contend with."

"A third possibility is that both cases are unrelated." Prowl pointed out. "The credibility of the witness from the construction site is questionable as he is homeless and has been reported to be under the influence of substance abuse, so local authorities has filed his claim as a result of a hallucination. I will have to take the time to investigate these two cases before I am sure if they are related to the Decepticons or not."

"So you will also be questioning Evelyne about all this?" Will asked, feeling unsure. The thought of Prowl interrogating his niece like she was a suspect in this whole thing made him uneasy and protective.

Prowl expression remained stern. "If your niece is the only credible witness to her own assault then she may be the only one who can reveal the truth of what really happened to her and whether or not it has anything to do with our enemies."

Will frowned. While he understood that Prowl had made some good points, it didn't take away the fact that the SIC was getting on his nerves. Though he hadn't outright said it, the implications that the tactician had made in how Evelyne could be associated with Decepticons was downright insulting. Sure she may have had a sketchy past but to be convoluting with murderous Cybertronians was laughable. "What if she isn't cooperative or even lies about what has happened?" Will challenged. If he knew anything about his niece, she wasn't going to react well in being interrogated for anything.

Prowl was undeterred. "Then it means she has something to hide and if she lies, I will know."

Will had wanted to argue but knew that it would be meaningless at this point. Not when he wasn't even sure of how his niece was doing presently. Sure, she was out of surgery now but things could still go wrong. Complications could still happen.

Relaxing his fist that he hadn't realized he had been tightening, Will wordlessly turned to head towards the hospital again. When he realized two sets of footsteps were following him, he stopped and turned to Ironhide first before facing the tactician with a frown. "You are coming too?" he directed the question to the SIC.

One dark eyebrow arched slightly on Prowl's face. That was closest expression of amusement Will had ever seen on the Autobot tactician thus far. "I thought it would be only logical that I come too Major, if only to find out more about your niece."

"Her name is Evelyne." Will said crisply. "And on that note, you might as well just address me as Will instead of Major. We are not on base anymore and there is no need for formalities, not if you don't want to raise suspicions." Then he realized belatedly of what Prowl was wearing. "And you can't wear that."

The raised eyebrow lowered as the Autobot SIC frowned in confusion. "I have done research though the system and I am currently wearing the appropriate attire to blend in with the local community."

"Yeah if you are a cop," Will pointed out frowning at the neat, well-ironed navy blue uniform that covered the holoform's lean tall physique. "If you are planning to go incognito then _that_ is not going to work. People tend to notice policemen walking around especially in a hospital or anywhere really."

"And what are your suggestions, Will?" Prowl inquired, following his request to address him by his name.

It was an innocent enough question but nevertheless caused Will to choke before hiding it with an awkward cough. Geez, never in a million years he would have thought to be in any position to give fashion advice to anybody, let alone to an autonomous robotic being from outer space.

He really hoped Evelyne would appreciate all the trouble he was going through for her sake.

* * *

Will walked through the hospital sliding doors with a vague sense of déjà vu. It was like the day when he had rushed to the hospital on the day that his niece was born. Except this time, his brother was not there to greet him with a smile and he was seeing his niece under much grimmer circumstances.

Squashing down the faint feeling of nostalgia, he approached determinedly towards the front desk with a sign announcing "Information" in bold black letters. Both Ironhide and Prowl followed him closely without saying a word. Behind the work station, a young woman with brown hair in a pixie cut sat there, typing away on her computer and was talking on the desk phone.

When she didn't notice his approach at first, Will spoke to get her attention. "Excuse me," he started but he was cut-off when the woman held up a finger, gesturing him to give her a moment without looking up.

"Yes, I know! What are the chances do you think she is going to get a raise?" she asked excitedly.

Will gritted his teeth in frustration. This woman was wasting his time. He waited another five seconds as the woman continued to talk before he felt like he was going to lose his temper. He was about to open his mouth to yell at the woman when an arm reached out and pressed the button on the desk phone, effectively cutting off the woman's phone call.

Will was surprised to look up to see that the arm belonged to Prowl and judging from the unamused expression on the Autobot's face, he didn't enjoy the woman chattering away as well.

"Hey! What is your_" the indignant woman cried out before her eyes landed on the rude man that had cut off her phone call, her eyes widened in surprise. "_problem?" she finished off with a squeak, still holding the handset against her ear. She slowly placed the handset back on its cradle, a sort of dreamy expression was on her face as she stared at Prowl.

If Will wasn't so impatient he would have laughed at the Autobot tactician, who was frowning confusedly at the starry eyes that the woman was directing his way. He had told the SIC to choose a set of clothes that would allow him to blend with the general crowd.

" _Just Google search casual wear for men and go with that,"_ Will had remembered telling the clueless Autobot. And Prowl had succeeded in a sense. Dressed in a crisp white long-sleeve button up shirt, black pants and black shoes. The outfit was simple enough to not stand out but at the same time, it accentuated the dark hair and bright blue eyes that many woman tended to fall under.

"My problem," Prowl said coldly, "is that while you are wasting everyone's time talking meaningless gossip, there are people here that actually required your assistance. Although judging from your display of inattention, it places serious doubt in your ability to perform even that simple task."

Will mentally winced, feeling slightly sorry for the woman. The Autobot tactician may have had a point but even that had seemed a bit harsh.

Ironhide was chuckling quietly beside him. "Take the Autobot out of base but you can't delete his core programming," he commented and Will was inclined to agree.

The woman's mouth fell open in shock. The dreamy expression on her face dropped as her fantasy bubble burst. Her face reddened in embarrassment at being reprimanded like a child. "How dare you!" she cried indignantly.

"Sorry about my friend," Will intervened quickly before things escalated and the hospital ended up calling for security. He stepped in front of Prowl, blocking him from the woman's sight and she blinked in surprise. "We are just in a _real_ hurry. I am here to see my niece. I was told she was admitted to this hospital?" he rushed, his tone conveying the worry he felt.

To the woman's credit, she decided not to make a scene although not without sending a final glare at Prowl, who stood silently behind him. "Her name?"

"Lennox, Evelyne Lennox," he answered and waited as the woman searched for it in the system.

"She's in the post-surgical unit in the 5S wing, you can reach there by taking this elevator to the 5th floor and then take a left turn after you get out. You will see the nursing station once you do."

Will thanked her and quickly headed to the directions she provided.

It was difficult to contain his anxiety now that he had finally arrived. He couldn't get out of the elevator fast enough once he arrived to the 5th floor. When he approached the nursing station, he was sure he had made quite a sight judging from the startled look the nurse behind the desk gave him.

"I'm here to_"

"I need some help in here!" A voice cried out from a room just off to the left of him.

Numerous medical staff responded immediately and headed into the room including the nurse that Will had been speaking to.

With a sudden feeling of dread, Will followed his gut instincts and approached the room as well.

He was met with the sight of a medical team surrounding a bed as they tried to subdue a struggling female patient from hurting herself.

"She's having a panic attack! Hold her still!"

The woman in the bed thrashed so wildly that the medical team could barely hold her. She fought so much that her right arm came free and nearly punched the doctor in the eye before he ducked at the last minute. "No!" she cried out. "Get off!"

Will froze when he recognized the patient. It was Evelyne and it looked like she was fighting for her life. He took a step towards her before he was blocked by a nurse who noticed he was in the room. "Sir please, you will need to step out,"

"What? No!" Will evaded her attempt to direct him out. "I know her! She's my niece!"

"You're her next of kin?"

Will turned to the doctor who approached him, his white coat in disarray from the struggle. The other medical team continued to hold down the struggling woman and she screamed like a wounded animal. Watching her like this really broke Will's heart, and he made an impromptu decision. "I am. Let me try to calm her down."

The doctor looked at him skeptically. "She's not going to recognize you right now," the doctor pointed out. "She's not even aware of what she's doing."

"Let me try," Will insisted.

The doctor looked at him and Will felt like he was being gauged. Just when Will thought that he was going to be refused, the doctor nodded. "Alright, one chance. If it looks like she isn't responding to you, you will step back."

Will nodded in understanding. He turned briefly to the two people who stood behind him. Ironhide's expression was grim while Prowl kept his eyes focused on his niece fighting against the people holding her down. Both stood back to allow him to do what he needed to do but Will knew that they would not hesitate to step in if the need arose.

Will made his way closer to the bed, debating with himself in how he was going to do this. He honestly had no plan, but knew that he couldn't let himself stand back and do nothing while Evelyne continued to struggle in agony.

He had faced many battles and enemies in wars that could have easily killed him, yet he'd stood his ground without so much as batting an eye. Yet here he was standing there and fearing that he was going to fail in trying to calm his niece down. What if he made everything that much worse?

Not knowing what else to do, Will stepped forward and placed both hands on his niece's shoulders and tried to hold her still. He was shocked at the strength she displayed as she renewed her efforts to fight him off when she sensed a new 'attacker'.

"No!" she cried again shaking her head. Her eyes were open but they were unfocused as if seeing an enemy that no one else could see. It was like she was stuck in her own nightmare.

' _Or reliving her attack,'_ Will realized. "Evelyne, snap out of it!" He said firmly in hopes that his voice would reach her.

She continued to fight him, trying to pry his hands from her shoulders despite only having one hand to do so while her left arm was secured in a cast. Her breathing was ragged almost like she was hyperventilating. She started bucking from the bed nearly kicking another staff that had been holding onto one of her legs.

Will continued to speak while holding onto her shoulders firmly. "You're safe, I'm here. Your Uncle Will is here. Listen to my voice, I'm here."

She screamed and Will almost let go because he thought he had unintentionally hurt her. "No more," she cried shaking her head, almost like a sob and Will nearly broke down along with her when he heard the desperation in it.

"No one here is going to hurt you here Evie. I won't let anyone hurt you. Please Evie wake up," he was close to begging now and he didn't really care. He just wanted her pain to stop. "Please."

Slowly as if by a miracle, his niece's struggling began to lessen. He didn't notice it at first but when he saw that the other staffs were beginning to let go of his niece's limbs one by one, he realized that she was responding to him. Encouraged, he continued to coax his niece to relax more. "That's right, I'm here Evie. It's going to be okay. _You_ are going to be okay."

Her good hand took hold of his forearm but didn't try to rip it away like before and instead, she held onto it as if it was her only lifeline. Her breathing started to slow and her amber eyes started to focus. "Uncle… Will," her voice was so quiet and hoarse unlike the screaming she was doing before. It was almost like a whisper, but Will had heard it.

Will chuckled in relief. "Yeah I'm here Evie. It's going to be okay now."

Evelyne's eyes focused and blinked slowly as if trying to orientate herself before they fixed onto him. Will stood still and patiently waited for her to acknowledge him again. It seemed like a long time while she laid there starring at him that Will was beginning to fear that maybe she wasn't completely conscious anymore or worse yet, had sustained some damage to her mind after all.

Then she did something that Will had feared would happen.

Her hand on his forearm tightened before prying it away from her shoulder as if she was determined to use the last of her strength to do so.

"Leave."

It was spoken so softly at first that Will was certain that he had heard wrong. "What?"

"Leave," Evelyne said more firmly, her brows furrowed and eyes were guarded.

Will was disappointed. So she hadn't forgiven him after all. "Evie, it's me," he spoke insistently.

"I know who you are." Evelyne said coldly before turning away from him. "And I don't want to see you. Leave."

 _~to be continued…~_

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Thank you for reading everyone! I hope you have enjoyed it. Please review and let me know what you think. They are my motivation!

So for those who have been curious about Evelyne's past, I hope this had answered some questions but also leave some questions as well. More about her past will be revealed as the story progress. Prowl meets Evelyne for the first time although sadly, she was not in the right frame of mind to reciprocate but don't worry, they will very soon. Please stay tune!

 **To my reviewers:**

Bookwriter123456: I hope you enjoyed chapter 2, I will try not to drag out the plotline too much. I hope my story can inspire more Prowl/OC fics. Provided they don't copy my plot LOL I hope chapter 2 revealed some of the questions you have about Evelyne's past.

Swanna: My fave person. Thank you for your every inspiring support! You have my love!

PathBeater: Thank you for that wonderful image of Prowl you described. Yes it totally made my day thinking about it :D I hope to have your continued support!

SunnySides: I will have more Terror twins and Jazz in upcoming chapters but it may be a little bit further on since I will be focusing of Prowl and Evelyne first. But the world will certainly get bigger.

Misty Legionnaire: I hope chapter 2 revealed just enough of Will and Evelyne's relationship just to answer some questions but also leave you more to get you hooked. If I did that for you then my mission has been accomplished.

Daniel: Not many people mentioned the training scene but it was a scene that I had placed much thought into it and something I had to edit again and again. I am glad you have enjoyed it and it had made all that hard work paid off.

99luftballonsx.o.x: What a cool alias! I am pleased you are giving my story a try. Hope I don't disappoint.

KayleeChiara: Thank _you_ for reading and reviewing and showing your support. Have a cookie and I hope you enjoyed chapter 2!

Guest: Thank you for reviewing! I hope you have enjoyed chapter 2 as much as I have enjoyed writing it!

Jessenia22: No better way to understand about life than a career in nursing and how precious life is. I wish you all the best in your chosen path of healing and patience (cause you will need a lot of it). Just ask Ratchet!

Moonlit Mortal: I am glad you didn't find chapter 1 too slow but I really did try to make it intriguing enough to get readers hooked. I will continue to try my very best! Thank you!

Mysine: Are you a Prowl fan just as much as I? Or just enjoy good stories in general? Either way, I hope I had accomplished in satisfying either or both interests.

JK: You are right, Evelyne does have a lot of demons ahead of her, but she won't face them alone. At least, let's hope she realizes that she won't have to face them alone.


	4. Chapter 3: Awaken

**Disclaimer:** Transformers belongs to Hasbro and Michael Bay. Evelyne is still mine to keep.

 **Rated T:** For coarse language (English and Cybertonian), mild violence and some sexually suggestive scenes. If I feel the need to increase the rating, I will give plenty of warning.

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Awaken**

When Evelyne woke for the second time, she was disorientated but found her mind in a calmer state. For a brief blissful moment, she thought that everything up to this moment had been a very bad nightmare. That she hadn't been attacked and left for dead and somehow ended up in a hospital. Unfortunately that little fantasy was not meant to last as she stared up at the grid-line ceilings and white washed walls of the hospital room. The light in the room were dimmed and she had no idea what time or even what day it was.

Even though she had just woken, Evelyne still felt tired and could barely summon the strength to move her arm. She cringed at the sight of the IV site that was inserted into her arm. The dressing holding the IV in place looked fresh, indicating that it must have been placed there not too long ago.

' _I must have pulled out the first one during my little crazy panic attack'_ her mind had supplied and she shuddered at the memory of how she had acted. It was terrifying in how she had just lost control like that. The image of the people surrounding her, holding her down while she fought like some wild animal as if her life depended on it. She could still feel the phantom hands grabbing and pulling her and she bit herself hard to stop a small whimper from emerging past her lips. God, she hated hospitals!

So absorbed in her thoughts that she was startled by the sound of light snoring and realized that she was not as alone in the hospital room as she had initially thought.

A man, Evelyne quickly recognized as her uncle Will, was asleep in a chair by her bedside. His arms crossed across his chest with his chin tucked in and legs outstretched. His posture was terrible and the chair seemed to be too small for his large frame. Evelyne let out a breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding when it did not seemed that he was going to wake.

' _What is he doing here?'_ she was having trouble grasping at the sight of him being there. Her memory was a bit distorted and she recalled bits and pieces of him in it, but thought that it was some sort of illusion conjured by her confused mind.

Despite the dimness of the room, Evelyne could see the tiredness in her uncle's demeanor. He seemed to have aged vastly through the five years since she had last seen him. A complexity of emotions of confusion, embarrassment, guilt, and sorrow threatened to overwhelm her as she watched him sleep there by her bedside unassumingly, as if he had all the right in the world. As if he cared.

She could not understand how he could still care for her after all these years. Not after how she had treated and disappointed him. How he had disappointed her as well.

She had made the decision to cut the only family she had left from her life when she had said goodbye five years ago. She'd wanted to cut all ties from her past and start a new life. And for the past three years, she'd accomplished that feat somewhat but something had pulled her back this rural place. She'd only meant to be passing by, to complete some unfinished business before moving on.

She never would have guessed that she would cross path with _them_ again.

She knew that they never took too kindly to deserters, but even Evelyne was blindsided by the violence they committed against her. They left her for dead and by some miraculous reason, she survived. She was not going to repeat the same mistake again. If they were still looking for her even after five years, then it only showed that they hadn't forgotten about her as she'd naively hoped.

A slight groan alerted Evelyne that her uncle was starting to wake. Unprepared to face her uncle, Evelyne closed her eyes and turned her faced away from him slightly, feigning sleep. She listened carefully as she heard her uncle yawned and stretched. A few bones cracked followed by a groan of relief as her uncle shook himself out of his fatigue.

There was a moment of silence and Evelyne had the feeling that he was looking at her. "Evie?" he inquired softly as if to check if she was awake.

She didn't respond and kept her eyes closed.

Another sigh.

It became quiet again and Evelyne wondered if her uncle was going to continue to stay by her or if he will eventually give up and leave.

A set of heavy footsteps approached and she tensed at the sound of another person entering her room before stopping by her bedside. She could barely resist the urge to open her eyes to see who it was, but reasoned that if this new person meant her harm, her only advantage was the element of surprise. _'Just what do you think you can do? Hit them with a pillow? You're completely weak right now!'_ her mind sneered at her idea. She mentally told her self-doubt to go to hell.

"How is she doing? Had she woken yet?" a gruff voice asked. It was a deep rumbling voice and it completely aliened to her.

Her uncle didn't sound alarmed by newcomer and addressed him as if he were a friend. "Still out of it. The doc said that given how long they had put her under, it might take her longer to wake from her induced coma," he replied.

There was a pause before the deep voice spoke again. "It's late. You should head home, Will. You have been in and out of here by her side for 5 days now."

Evelyne's mind blanched. _'Five days?!'_ She had been placed in a coma for 5 days?!

"I shouldn't leave her side." Her uncle protested but Evelyne heard the stress in his voice and remembered how truly tired he looked sleeping in that uncomfortable chair. The guilt gnawed at her stomach.

A frustrated grunt followed. "You look like you have gone three rounds with the 'Cons and lost. You are no good to her at the state that you are. You need recharge."

"What if she wakes and I'm not here?" Will argued. Evelyne wondered if her uncle was worried that she would wake up in a panic again and he wasn't present. _'Just go home!'_ she silently told her uncle.

As if hearing her mental urging, the gruff voice spoke for her. "Sarah and Annabelle will be worried. Let me take you back home to them and you can come back here in the morning."

It seemed like the right words to say and her uncle was quiet again. Evelyne suspected it was largely related to these people named Sarah and Annabelle. Who were these two people in his life that would make her stubborn uncle hesitate? Girlfriend? Wife?

"If you are still wary of leaving her alone. Prowl can stay to watch her and have him inform us if she wakes."

"Prowl? I thought he was busy right now." The hesitation in her uncle's voice instantly caused Evelyne to become wary of this "Prowl" individual.

His uncle' friend chuckled. It was a sound that seemed like it was rarely used. "Prowl may have a stick up his aft but he won't mind keeping watch on your niece for the night. He just returned from investigating some leads so it's not like he's going to be recharging anytime soon."

She felt her uncle contemplated before finally relenting to his friend's advice. "Ok, you win, Ironhide. Just let me speak to one of the nurses to inform them of Prowl staying and we can go."

She heard her uncle getting up and the sound of the chair scraping back. It was quiet and she wondered why they weren't moving. Then she felt something brushed her hand. It was a soft touch and it nearly startled her into revealing herself, but managed to remain still when she realized it was just her uncle holding her hand. He squeezed her hand comfortingly.

"I will see you later, Evie," He whispered and left the room followed by the heavy footsteps of his friend.

She waited a few minutes, not daring to reveal herself in case they decided to come back. When she determined that they weren't returning, she opened her eyes to observe the now empty hospital room.

A plethora of feelings consumed her and she had to fight the irrational urge of to jump out of her hospital bed and flee. While she didn't want her uncle sitting by her side throughout the night, she liked the idea of a stranger named Prowl watching over her even less. Just what kind of name was Prowl anyway? Was it a nickname? The name made her think of a stalker. She may not have had the best relationship with her uncle but he wouldn't leave her at the hands of a stalker, would he?

A little more awake and given that she wasn't going to be anywhere else, she took stock of her condition starting with the most obvious.

Left arm in a cast. Broken.

Feeling troubled, her right hand reached up and felt the bandage on her forehead, feeling the tenderness. Head injury.

There was a distinct pain on her torso but it wasn't overwhelming and she suspected that it had something to do with the pain meds they were pumping into her veins at regular intervals. She wasn't sure the extent of her injuries in that area.

With some concentration and a small sense of relief, she felt her legs, feet and toes moved at her command. It gave her a small sense of comfort that she had some control over her body despite how little it was. She wasn't sure how well she would be able to weight-bear on her feet, but hopefully if the situation called for it, she would be able to stand and run or at least, walk away.

Movement was heard outside her doorway and she instantly feigned sleep again, hoping it was just a passerby and not another unwanted visitor. She tensed when she heard footsteps entered her room. The approaching footsteps were different doctor or a nurse coming in to check on her.

The idea was quickly eradicated when the footsteps stopped by her bedside, but remained there quietly unlike a nurse who would have checked her vitals and fussed with the multiple equipment in her room. Nor did it seemed like the stranger was a doctor who would check her charts and scribble down a few things before leaving her in peace for the rest of the night. Her visitor didn't do anything as he or she stood there and assessed her silently making her increasingly nervous as the seconds ticked by.

It took all of her self-control to stay silent and to keep her breathing even as she continued with her guise. She hoped that her patience would eventually cause the person to lose interest and leave her alone. Then a thought crept through her mind and fear seeped into her veins. What if the person was from _them?_ With the hatred that they had shown towards her, would it be so far-fetched that they realized she was still alive and now came to finish the job?

Then something unpredictable happened.

"You can stop pretending. I can tell that you are awake." A deep male voice spoke to her.

She didn't dare to move even though she felt her heart leapt to her throat. ' _How?'_

"Your heart rate monitor had spiked 25% the minute I entered the room. I know you are aware that I am standing here." The voice continued calmly as if reading her thoughts.

Dismayed and wary of having her deception so easily thwarted, she slowly opened her eyes to face the owner of that deep voice.

She wasn't sure who she was expecting but she failed to recognize the man standing there. From the deep voice, she had thought that the man would to be older but he seemed no older than in his early thirties at most. He had a strong squared jaw, short cropped dark brown hair and impossible blue eyes that seemed to glow in the dim lighting that even Evelyne was hard-pressed to admit that he was handsome. But her wariness only grew as she noted his lips pressed together in a frown and she hated the feeling of vulnerability that came over her when his tall figure loomed over her prone form.

He didn't say anything as they stared at one another and Evelyne realized he was waiting for her reaction and analyzing. His dark eyebrows sloped down in a serious expression and she wondered if he was expecting her to scream or cry in alarm. Not willing to give him any further advantage over her, she kept her expression neutral but mentally weighed her options. How fast would any medical staff get here if she were to press that call bell just located inches away from her hand? If she were to risk the climb out of her bed, how far would she be able to get away or would she just end up injuring herself further?

Hating how limited her options were, she opened her mouth to finally speak. _'Who the hell are you?'_ would have been the first thing she demanded from this man or even a sharp retort like _'You know it's creepy to watch people when they try to sleep._ ' Unfortunately that was not meant to be. The only words that came from her dry mouth was a "W..Who…" before her voice croaked pathetically.

To the man's credit, there was no amusement in his expression over her sad attempt to answer. In fact, her one word seemed enough to evoke him out of his silence. "You were seriously injured and were brought here to this medical facility to be treated. Your next of kin, Major William Lennox was contacted and has been staying by your side for the last 5 days. I was informed there was a chance that you would wake within the next few hours. And your uncle requested that I stay here to monitor your condition while he goes home to recharge."

Evelyne frowned at the odd method in how he spoke to her. He delivered the words as if he was delivering a report. Shrugging off the quirky behavior for now, she decided there were more pressing questions. "Pr… Prowl?" Evelyne inquired quietly, wondering if the one word would be enough to convey her unspoken question.

The man's bright blue eyes seemed to widen slightly in surprise as if being caught off guard before he narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "I take it that since you know my name, then it is sufficed to say that you were already awake when Major Lennox was still here."

Being caught, Evelyne did not like the almost accusatory words that were coming out of this guy's mouth. He spoke to her for less than 10 minutes and he was already getting on her nerves. If only looks could kill…

"Now your heart rate has spiked up to 27%," Prowl pointed out matter-of-factly. "I would suggest that you try to calm down, Ms. Lennox. Why you chose to deceive the Major is not my main concern but I am not here to harm you. I am here tonight strictly to monitor. When you are in better health, then we will talk."

Evelyne felt warning bells sounding off in her head. _'Did he think that was supposed to make me feel better?'_ While the fact that he was not here to kill her made her feel slightly calmer. The idea of him wanting to ask more questions later placed her on edge.

She turned her head away as a sign that she was done talking to him even though she wasn't able to say much at all. Her throat was starting to hurt already. Prowl or whatever his real name was, received her silent dismissal and finally gave indication of leaving.

"I will inform the nurses that you are awake." She heard his footsteps starting to leave before pausing again. "I will remain close by and will update your uncle in the morning when he returns." Then he was gone.

Evelyne turned and stared at the empty doorway. When she was certain the strange man was not going to return anytime soon, she let out a steady breath to relieve some of the stress. It did not work very well.

After a few more deep breaths and Evelyne felt more in control, she went through her options again. However, no matter how she looked at her situation, it would seem a confrontation with her uncle was unavoidable. Not in her current condition where it would be lucky if she could walk. Then there were those people who wanted her dead. How long before she ran into them again? Then there was Prowl, her assigned babysitter. Just what was his deal?

' _We will talk'_ his words echoed in her head and she remembered how intense his blue eyes were when he looked at her. They were utterly focused, analyzing her every move as if it would give him the answers when she refused to speak. A slight chill went through her. She was going to have to be careful with that guy.

Her uncle may trust him, but that didn't mean she would.

* * *

' _Do you think you can just leave?' a sadistic voice hissed before Evelyne felt a kick into her stomach. She flinched and tried to avoid another kick. She heard a cry and realized it was her own._

Evelyne woke once again without even realizing that she had fallen asleep in the first place. After the nurse and on-call doctor had checked on her and left her alone, she'd spent a majority of the night worrying about what her next step was going to be. She was too thankful that Prowl didn't make a second visit.

The brightness in the room and the busy hassle coming outside of the hallway indicated that it was day time but with no clock in the room, it was hard to judge what time of the day it was.

"Hey, you're awake." It was softly spoken and Evelyne stilled when she recognized that voice and turned slowly to face the owner.

Her uncle sat by her bedside much like the previous night, except this time much more awake and was looking at her with a relieved expression and small smile.

When she didn't answer immediately and just continued to look at him, her uncle's smile faded and his hand rubbed the back of his neck in awkwardness. "I umm… I was informed by the nurse that you woke up some time last night. I'm sorry that I wasn't here then." He said when he realized she wasn't going to respond.

Evelyne continued to say nothing. The same mixed feelings overran her tired body like last night. She was able to avoid speaking to him before but it seemed inevitable now.

"Feel free to talk anytime or else I might just keep going until you do say something," Will spoke in a weak attempt of a joke.

"Why?" Evelyne finally blurted out in a whisper.

She watched as her uncle's brows furrowed in confusion. "Why what?"

"Why are you here?" She spoke louder, secretly relieved that her voice did not tremble.

Her uncle blinked before a hurt expression overcame him. "Just what kind of question is that?!"

"I thought it was a very clear question."

Will took a deep calming breath. "You were badly hurt. Hospital called me and I came as soon as I knew," he explained slowly as if emphasizing each point.

"Why did they call you?"

"Who else would they have called? Your mother?"

Evelyne eyes narrowed. "I don't want to talk about her."

"You've just proven my point."

"In case it has escaped your notice, I'm not some stupid teen anymore. There was no need for you to come, I was fine."

"Fine? _Fine?"_ Will could only sputtered disbelievingly at the face of her stubbornness. "You called this?" He gestured to her prone form on the hospital bed. " _Fine?!"_

"I'm still alive, aren't I?" she refused to meet his eyes when she said this. When her uncle didn't retort as she expected, she looked at him and was ready to deliver another comeback only for the words to die on her lips at the sight of his face.

Her uncle looked at her with such a tired expression, which reminded her of the fact that he'd been by her side almost relentlessly for the past few days. When he opened his mouth to speak again, no words came out. Evelyne knew he wanted to tell her something before changing his mind.

"What?" She pressed, wanting to know what her uncle was holding back. If he was hiding something important related to her then she had the right to know.

"It's nothing," his abrupt reply only made her more suspicious and she couldn't help but called his bluff.

"That's bullshit."

"Watch your language," Will rebuked, his tone warning.

Evelyne looked at him disbelievingly. "Are you kidding me?" she scoffed. "Don't you work in the army? You probably heard worse than what you will get out of me."

Her uncle gave her a funny look before it cleared and Evelyne wasn't sure what to make of it. "That may be true, but I am still your uncle. Besides, I don't think Sarah will appreciate you using that language around Anabelle so much while you are living with us so_"

"What?" Evelyne interrupted sharply. Her eyes narrowed at the man sitting by her.

"Oh that's right." Will said with a smile, misinterpreting her expression for confusion. "I'm married now. Sarah is my wife and Annabelle is our daughter, she is 3 year old now and absolutely perf_"

"Not that!" She growled in frustration despite the strain in her voice. "What the hell do you mean _'living with you'?_ "

"I thought that would be obvious."

"It's not."

"Well as you will need a place to stay where you can have time to recover, what better place than at the farm with me and my family?"

"No."

"No?" Will blinked at her short and abrupt refusal, smile gone from his face.

"No!" she repeated angrily. "What even gives you the right to make that decision for me?"

"We are family, I only want to help you."

"I don't need your help!"

"Yes, you do." Will disagreed, his tone firm. The man was clearly trying to suppress his agitation at the face of his stubborn niece.

When he got his emotions more under control, he spoke in a calmer tone. "Be reasonable, Evelyne. Even when you are discharged from here, you will need time to heal. There is no place safer than home."

Evelyne glared at him. "That is not my home." _'It hasn't been since she took me away from there,'_ she thought sourly.

"Just because you say that it doesn't stop it from being so."

"Just what the hell do you want from me?" Evelyne demanded.

"I want you to stop being so bullheaded and stubborn!" Will snapped, his tentative hold of calm broke as fatigue, worry and stress over the past week finally caught up to him. "For once in your life, just let your family help you. All I am offering you is a safe place to stay while you heal."

Evelyne remained quiet at her uncle's outburst. She studied him as she tried to find any fault in his reasoning or if there were any hidden agenda.

Like a balloon deflating, Will's agitation faded as sadness took over. It was his worse fear that their relationship was so damaged to the point that his niece would become suspicious of his motive when all he wanted to do was to protect her.

"Look," Will tried again. "At least think about it. Once you are better than you can do whatever the hell you want."

"Is that a promise?" she finally asked.

"Is what a promise?"

"That you won't try to stop me when I want to leave after I am better," she clarified.

"You make it sound like I'm offering you a prison-sentence," he muttered. Evelyne said nothing and just looked at him expectantly.

"Yes, if you are well and truly recovered and want to leave, I won't complain," Will relented. "It's not like I could ever stop you before," he added grumpily.

Evelyne bit her lip in contemplation. Her uncle offered her a chance to decide, but really what choice did she really have? Based on what the doctor had told her briefly last night, her injuries were extensive. As suspected, she'd sustained a dislocated left shoulder, with a broken left humerus. Her worst fear was confirmed when she was told that she had four broken ribs, a concussion and internal bleeding that had required surgery to mend. And while the doctor attempted to be positive and insisted that she would make a full recovery in time, the message was clear. She was in no condition to go off on her own after she left the hospital. She had no place to go other than the dingy motel that she'd been staying in.

She didn't have much money to begin with either and what she did have was probably lost now. Losing the money was a small thing, but she did have a few precious belongings that were irreplaceable. The thought of losing them was enough to make her heart clench.

Actually this whole situation was enough to make her want to scream in helpless frustration, and she had to clench her jaw to stem the urge from doing that. Instead, she bit out a short "I'm tired now."

She could see that he wanted to argue again, but luckily decided to let her have her peace for now. "I will come back later then."

Evelyne said nothing as he sighed before he got up. The chair, he was sitting on, scraped loudly against the floor. But as she watched her dejected uncle turned his back on her to leave the room, she wasn't sure why she said what she said afterward.

"I will think about it," she regretted the words the moment they left her mouth and she refused to look up to see how he would respond.

When he didn't answered her at first, she'd hoped that maybe her uncle had not heard her quiet admission.

"Ok." His response was quick and softly spoken as if not quite believing she was really willing to consider his offer. And although she continued to stare adamantly at the ugly green blanket covering her form, she could still imagine the soft smile appearing on his weary face.

Then she was alone.

* * *

 _Two minutes and twenty seven seconds_

That was how long the doctor said his niece's heart had stopped.

Two damn minutes and twenty seven agonizing seconds before they were able to resuscitate her and Will couldn't keep the facts from haunting him even as he walked out of her hospital room.

He was having trouble reconciling with the fact that he'd been so close to losing her before even given the chance to amend things between them.

When Evelyne had so brazenly stated that at least she was still alive, he'd come close to blurting out that she did, in all matter and fact, died for all of two minutes and twenty seven seconds before being revived. He wanted her to see what he saw; that she wasn't immune to death as she seemed to think. She really needed to take her situation more seriously. It was only by his need to protect her fragile mentality that he swallowed the words before they spilled from his lips.

With his thoughts occupied, he entered the visitor's waiting room where he knew Ironhide would be waiting. As expected, he found his guardian doing just that. His holoform was sitting in one of the soft couches that occupied the area. His large form almost taking up the whole couch meant for two. A magazine was thrown aside haphazardly on the table with a pile with other discarded reading materials that the Autobot had been flipping through out of sheer boredom.

Out of curiosity, Will couldn't help but peeked at what his guardian was reading and had to hold back a chuckle. It looked suspiciously like one of those home décor magazine that Sarah often liked to browse through. That was the last thing he expected the weapon specialist to be looking at.

To his surprise, Prowl was also there waiting with his comrade although the SIC did not acknowledge his presence. Oddly enough, the SIC's attention seemed to be diverted to a man, standing in the corner of the room before a large vending machine. The visitor paid them no attention and seemed be very agitated and venting his frustration on the unassuming food dispenser. He banged on the glass loudly a few times while muttering _'stupid machine ate my money!'_ After deciding his aggression was going nowhere, he sighed dejectedly before leaving the room, most likely to complain to management about the faulty machinery.

"I had some doubts before, but that femme is definitely part of the same unit as you. That same stubborn streak."

Will scowled as he turned his attention back at Ironhide. "What did I say about listening in on conversations without express permission?" he said sternly, his arm crossed in annoyance.

It was by accident about a year ago when he discovered that while Cybertronian's senses were not quite as heightened as they were in their real form, they were still quite enhanced in holoform compared to humans along with their strength, endurance and agility. It had been really embarrassing trying to explain to his guardian why Sarah was not in immediate risk of dying when he had overheard her complaints about cramps and bleeding. She was in their bedroom talking to Will at the time while Ironhide had been downstairs with Annabelle in the kitchen. Sarah found the situation funny when Will complained to her about it afterwards, but later she did warn Ironhide quite sternly against listening in on other people's conversation. Will could still picture the amusing scene of his five foot seven inches wife standing up to the tall Autobot and lecturing him on social etiquette.

"That they are private?" Ironhide asked, managing to feign a look of innocence.

"Exactly!" Will exclaimed, throwing both hands up in exasperation.

The weapon specialist looked indignant. "Hey, I was not the one listening in on your argument." He tilted his head towards the other Autobot, who finally turned his attention to Will. "He did and then he informed me about it."

Will turned his attention accusingly at Prowl, who returned his look with a neutral expression. From what he could see, the Autobot Commander did not look the least bit ashamed or annoyed at having been ratted out by his comrade.

This only served to make Will more annoyed. While he could somewhat forgive the situation if it had been Ironhide eavesdropping, the fact that it had been Prowl listening only made him more wary. While Ironhide would never do anything to jeopardize the lives of his family, he wasn't sure on the other Autobot's objective. It was true that they were all fighting the on same side and Ironhide would never have allowed Prowl to join them if there was no trust between them. Nevertheless, Will would feel better knowing where he and his family stood in the eyes of the calculating strategist.

"Do I even need to ask why you were eavesdropping on us?" Will watched the bot's facial expression carefully for clues to hint as to what was going on in that processor of his.

"It was simply to monitor if Ms. Lennox would be more cooperative in bringing more clarity to her situation when she was talking to you. It is unfortunate that she seemed only more reclusive when speaking with her only kin."

Will ignored the jab to his poor relationship with his niece. "I could have told you that," he pointed out. "There was no need to listen in. You might not know this yet but humans don't like their private conversations being listened to by a third party without consent."

"It was not my intention to offend and I will take that in future consideration." Prowl dipped his head slightly as his way of apology before he started to walk away. "I will go speak with her directly then."

"What? No!" Will stepped in front of the Autobot Commander, effectively blocking his way.

Prowl looked at him with a mild sign of impatience marring his otherwise expressionless face. "I do not understand. It will be only logical to seek answers from the source of this incident now that she is awake and coherent."

"No!" Will repeated firmly. "She just woke up and you want to go in there and interrogate her like some sort of felon? She did nothing wrong!"

"We do not have sufficient information to draw that conclusion."

"She was the one that got hurt!"

"You are letting your emotional attachment to her cloud your judgement."

"I'm thinking like any man who would do anything to protect his family." Will gritted his teeth to keep his temper in check. He had never felt the urge to punch a Cybertronian in their holoform face before. They never gave him a reason to and he refused to be the first to let the emphatically-lacking Commander break his good relationship with their allies. Not to mention it would probably hurt his hand like a bitch.

It seemed like everyone was trying to test his patience today one way or another.

Will took a deep breath and tried another tactic. "Look, I want to know the truth to what happened to my niece more than anyone. I want to know who those bastards were that put her in that hospital bed so that I can return the favor." Will spoke honestly, never looking away from the Autobot standing before him.

"But right now, my niece's health is more important to me than my need for revenge. She may act stubborn and tough but what has happened to her affected her more deeply than she is willing to admit."

Prowl considered his words "Explain."

"I don't know if Cybertronians have anything similar but I've seen soldiers suffered from it after a particularly hard battle. Their physical wounds may have healed over time but it was the mental ones that lingered and are the ones that are difficult to treat."

"You are talking about post-traumatic syndrome," Surprised, Will looked at Ironhide, who made the conclusion.

"What?" Ironhide shot back defensively. "I have seen my fair share of it in my lifetime to know what you are referring to. You believe the femme suffers from it?"

Will thought back to Evelyne and the look of terror on her face when the medical staff had tried to subdue her. The restless sleep she had while he watched helplessly over her by her bedside. The puzzles fitted. He'd learnt long ago to recognize the early signs of mental trauma.

"I know she does to a certain degree," Will said firmly. "And if you push her too much and too soon, there is no telling what she may do. She might withdraw even further into herself and I will be damned if I let that happen."

The man stood to tall, giving no indication of backing down from the two Cybertronians. "You want information then we do it my way and that is giving her some space and time to heal first. Give her time to trust you first."

"You are assuming that Ms. Lennox will be cooperative in time and will not attempt to run at the first available opportunity." Prowl stated, his azure gaze challenging.

"I have faith in Evelyne," was his simple and honest reply.

"Indeed," Prowl was reserved. He turned to Ironhide. "What are your assessments of Ms. Lennox?"

"I think the whole thing is suspicious," Ironhide grumbled. He paused before he crossed in arms as if coming to a decision. "But I also trust in the Major's instinct so I am willing to give it more time before passing judgement on this femme."

Will flashed him a grateful smile.

Prowl was silent for a moment as he considered their options before finally nodding slowly. "I still maintain my reservations, but I do see your logic and will respect your restrictions. We will strictly monitor Ms. Lennox for now."

Good." Will said in relief before flashing the Autobot Commander a smirk. "Cause I really don't want to resort to kicking your aft," he added half-seriously.

Whether Prowl understood his attempt at a joke or not was unclear as he blinked. "Duly noted, Major."

 _*~To Be Continued~*_

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Dear readers,

I would like to start out by giving a very heartfelt apology in taking so long to update. I guess part of the reason was that I had to rewrite chapter 3 when I didn't like the direction it was going and had to change it. But overall, it was still not an excuse. I will try my very best to update again soon and thank you for coming back and not giving up on this story.

On another note, I know it seemed like Evelyne is being really stubborn and borderline cruel to her poor uncle. I think from her perspective, it really isn't easy to get back in touch with a relative whom she have lost touch with for 5 years and before that, was almost a stranger during her teen years. However no worries, Will can be just as stubborn as Evie and she will crack soon enough.

So what do you guys think of the meeting between Prowl and Evelyne? There will definitely be more interaction between the two in the next chapter. Please review and let me know! And thank you for those who had reviewed chapter 3, your support give me life!

A special thank you goes to sweet Swanna who gives me everlasting support! She is also a fellow writer who specializes in writing these incredible paranormal romances. Go check out her stories when you have the chance!


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